Run, Fly, Phase
by findingmymuse
Summary: Sequel to Maxlight. Fang can feel Max's brain attacks, an unwanted visitor threatens Jacob & Nessie's engagement, and what's this I hear of the Volturi? Unique storyline
1. Welcome To Forks High School

**I'm only going to put this on once! I am not Stephanie Meyer or James Patterson. If I was, do you honestly think you'd be sitting here reading this disclaimer; no, didn't think so. I do not own any of the characters other than the ones that I made up (and I will state those in the chapter before I post it). Thanks for reviewing (because I know you want to...) **

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW:

Three years after MAX. Ages: Angel-10. Gasman-12 Nudge-14 Iggy-16 ½. Fang-17. Max-17 ½.

Five years after Breaking Dawn; ages: Nessie-6 (looks about 16), Brady & Collin-18 (14), Seth-20 (15), Jake-21 (17), Leah- 24 (18), Embry-23 (18)

Seth imprinted on Angel; Leah and Embry imprinted on each other by force; Max and Fang are a couple; Iggy and Nudge are dating as well; Nessie and Jacob are engaged

-Nessie bit Fang (he's her singsong) so now he craves to taste people's blood but isn't a vampire or anything (not sure why because she isn't venomous)

-Edward has all the same mind powers as Angel; Iggy is only blind during the day (perfect night vision, can feel colors, and see things in white rooms)

Chapter 1

Max's POV

"Hurry up, Nudge or we're leaving you here!" I threatened as I stood on the Cullen stairwell, with my hands on my hips. The rest of the Flock, Nessie, Jacob, and Seth were all waiting in the cars. The Flock had all but moved into the Cullen's mansion. Even though being around vampires is not the first thing I would have liked, it is definitely better than being stuck in a cage at the School.

Nudge walked down the stairs followed by Alice and Rosalie. The two had spent all morning making all of us look 'good' for our first day of school at Forks High School; even the guys hadn't been spared from their makeover spree. She looked stunning though, her normally knotted hair had been curled and now lay on her shoulders, she had a light amount of makeup on, and her kaki skirt and red top matched but other than that I couldn't really tell you what she was wearing.

My own skirt was jean and I had on a dark blue v-neck that complimented Fang's dark blue button down and black jeans. (that was the most that Alice could convince him to compromise). Angel was in an adorable pink and green summer dress, despite it only being a few days after Thanksgiving, that matched Seth's green t-shirt. I had spotted Iggy heading for the front door to retrieve me and his girlfriend and noticed that they were dressed alike as well; he had on kaki pants and a red collared shirt. Gazzy, the only one of us not in a couple, was allowed to choose his own clothes and was wearing torn jeans with a t-shirt with some random band's logo on it.

"You guys ready?" Iggy asked, his jaw dropping when he spotted Nudge on the pure white stairwell. "Wow…sweetie, you look beautiful." He commented and she blushed, though her dark skin made it hard to notice.

We piled into the car that Fang was driving, me taking the front seat next to him and they slipping in the back next to Gazzy. Angel was in Jacob's Rabbit with him, Seth, and Nessie.

"So do you remember our cover story?" I asked the Gasman, who nodded. I reminded him again, in case he forgot already. "You, me, Angel, and Iggy are brother and sisters since we're all blonde and we look the most alike out of anyone. We're the Rides and our parents are missionaries in South America. We're staying with Dr. Carlisle, an old family friend, until their missions trip is over, remember?" Another nod. "Fang, Nudge, and Renesme are adopted children of the Cullen's and Jacob and Seth are brother exchange students that the Cullen's are taking in as well. They are the Blacks."

Gazzy nodded again. Even though he was eleven, I just wanted to make sure that he didn't blow our cover here. At school we had to pretend to be normal humans; not avian hybrids, werewolves, and a vampire hybrid that we really were.

We pulled up at the high school and filed into the main office. It was a bit stuffy in here with so many people. The secretary lady looked up at us, startled that we would all arrive on the same day. "The Blacks, Cullens, and Riders?" She asked.

"Just Ride." I corrected as sweetly as I could. I heard Fang snicker but I chose to ignore him.

She smiled and called all of our names out and we took our schedules from her. "Jacob and Seth Black. Nick (Fang), Monique (Nudge-I wouldn't let her use more than one name despite how cute she though Monique-Stephanie-Tiffany-Krystal sounded), and Ree-neesss-may Cullen." A few chuckles were silenced when Nessie glared at us before going to pick up her schedule. The lady took no notice and continued calling us. "Madison (me), Ignacio (Iggy), Angela (Angel), and Austen Ride (Gazzy)."

Angel (who was too smart to want to be stuck in a middle school) and Gazzy (who was almost technically old enough to be here anyways) were going to be freshmen. They were 'twins' as far as the school was concerned. Nudge, Seth, and Nessie were going to be sophomores while Fang, Jacob, me and my 'fraternal twin' Iggy were going to be juniors.

It was a little sketchy that the Ride family would consist of two pairs of fraternal twins but this was the only way that we thought that it could work without Iggy being a 'sibling' of his girlfriend's. I know that that was how the original Cullens did it, but these were my terms.

"Bring your schedules back signed by all of your teachers at the end of the day." The desk lady told us as we filed out of the room. I had a few classes with everyone so I was excited. Iggy was in every one of Nudge's classes so that he wouldn't have to have a 'blind guide.' Angel was only in one of Seth's classes and she pouted until I told her to snap out of it since she was "only a freshman and they don't have very many classes with upperclassmen and she should be grateful that she's in any of his classes."

Classes

1st- Biology (I, N, M), Algebra (S, A), English (F, J, R) Art (G)

2nd-English (M, S, G) Art (I, N, F), Study Hall (R, J, A)

3rd- Algebra (I, N), P.E. (A, R), Study Hall (F, S, M), Biology (G, J)

4th- Biology (S, F), Algebra (R, M) P.E. (I, N, G), Art (J, A)

Lunch (all)

5th- Algebra (G, F, J), English (I, N, A), Art (M, S, R)

6th- Biology (R, A), P.E. (F, M, J, S) Study Hall (I, N, G)

**Please Review or else I might not have the momentumn to finish this story. Thanks ;)**


	2. Brain Attack

Chapter 2

Fang's POV

English was probably the most boring thing that could have been my first period class. I mean, seriously, who wants to learn about grammar when they are still too tired to even pick out their own outfits? (and by the way that everyone outside of Alice's influence was dressed, I can tell that they didn't have nearly enough time to think over their wardrobe, let alone look at what they'd grabbed from the clothes pile.)

The teacher, a very chubby, overly cheerful blonde woman whose name I didn't bother to catch was walking around the room handing out copies of the class' newest reading assignment. I studied the cover and decided in one glance that I wasn't going to bother reading this. I know, I know, don't judge a book by it's cover. But this book just looked so boring. From the groans of the rest of the male students, I also decided that this was going to be a chick book.

Nessie smiled at Jacob from the desk on the other side of me. Yup, you got that right. I was stuck in the middle of these two lovebirds. I was just glad that Renesme had the good sense not to wear her engagement ring to school. I mean, she's supposed to be a freshman after all. How many freshmen do you know that have a rock as big as hers? Probably none.

I just hoped that Max was having a better time with Iggy and Nudge. Ah, Max. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get her out of my mind. It's like she's summoning me or something. I mean, we've always been able to read each other's expressions but this was different.

Ever since Nessie bit me, it felt like Max and I were almost thinking to each other. It didn't feel like when Edward or Angel was in my mind though; it felt like I could sense her. And right now, she felt uncomfortable, nauseated even. 'Was she sick?' I thought with dread. Us birdkids never get sick.

My mind was reeling and before I knew what I was doing, I ran out of the classroom, grabbing the bathroom pass at the last second. Hopefully, Jacob or Renesme or, worse, the teacher didn't come looking for me. I would be horribly mortified if Max was fine and I was just imagining all of this.

Just then, I saw a black petite girl standing over Max. I closed the distance quickly and realized the other girl was Nudge. Max looked pale, her hands gripping her skull in a motion that I knew had something to do with the Voice. Why couldn't that stalker leave my Max alone. We'd already destroyed The School; what more did they want?

I sat next to Max on the bench and started rubbing soothing circles on her back to try and relax her. It seemed to work and after a minute, she seemed to be coming back to. Her eyes darted around the empty hallway and she stiffened when she felt my hand still on her back. She turned her face warily towards me and half-smiled when she noticed it was me. She still looked upset and I could FEEL her pain from the last brain attack. I smiled, full force grin, and she instantly perked up.

"Do you still need me?" Nudge asked, biting her lip at our semi-intimate moment. "'Cause I mean, Iggy is still in Biology and Ms. Bennett is probably worried and I think that I might be interrupting something, you know? So I think I'll just go back to class. Make sure she's better Fang 'cause we all know how stubborn Max is…" She covered her mouth, embarrassed that she had talked bad about our leader.

Max just nodded and shooed her away. When it was just the two of us, I asked, "anything good on?" and tapped the side of her temple. I winced slightly when I FELT the tiny pain that it caused her.

"Not a whole lot." Max admitted. "It didn't make any sense. The Voice just said 'The Volturi are coming.' and then sent me a bunch of pictures of us at prom, a postcard of Italy, the field that the Cullens play baseball at but it was dark and overcast and not at all like when we play, the pack all standing around a human girl that I couldn't identify because the picture changed too fast, and then these creepy dark cloaked men walking towards Angel who didn't seem at all scared."

I blinked, shocked. It was the Fang equivalent of my jaw dropping to the ground and my eyes bulging out of my head. "Wow. That didn't make any sense. Do you think the Cullens know what any of it means? And what about the Macaroni coming? Any idea what that means?"

"The Volturi." Max corrected hoarsely and I could FEEL her anxiety and fear.

"Do you feel that?" I asked, barely above a whisper. I was sure that she was going to think that I was crazy. Maybe I was. All I knew was that Max was afraid of some stupid word that neither of us understood.

"Feel what?" She asked back, her eyes giving away nothing. Maybe I was crazy after all; not that I was going to let my girlfriend, best friend, and complete other half know that.

"Nothing." I lied. If Max had been feeling less worried, she would have caught me in my lie, but her mind was elsewhere. The bell rang right then and we were both pulled from our thoughts. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, careful that no one had seen us. The thing Max hated most was PDA and although I didn't agree with her on that one, I respected her decision. I couldn't help but feel jealous that I couldn't claim her with a more intimate kiss in public so all the guys could see that she was mine. Oh well, off to class...


	3. Emotions Running High

Chapter 3

Max's POV

I caught up with Gazzy and Seth right before they headed to our second period English class. Nudge apparently blabbed to my Biology teacher that I wasn't feeling well so I wanted to look as completely healthy and happy as I could so that I wouldn't get sent home. I don't know what it is about teachers that couldn't care less about you suddenly feeling the need to get all parental when they think you're contagious.

Thankfully, Mrs. Matheny, the possibly pregnant blonde English teacher, didn't seem to care that the office buzzed her numerous times to make sure that I wasn't sick. It was more than a little embarrassing and I had to kick Seth under the table to get him to quit laughing, with Gazzy it only took one of my death glares and he shut up quickly. Ah, that'd a boy.

I glanced at the blue hard covered book that was passed out and suppressed the urge to groan. This was definitely going to be a girlie book, no doubt full of romance with a pathetic damsel in distress and a devoted stalkerish guy. I hate chick books. Give me a good horror, gory book any day.

Class passed quickly after that though. For the I-don't-know-how-many-times since we arrived at the Cullen's house, I FELT someone's emotions other than my own. Whoever this person was, they were probably bipolar. Every two seconds, they went from head-over-heels-in-love to wanting to beat the crap out of someone to feeling nervous from being away from someone to being protective, almost territorial. It was giving me serious emotional whiplash.

The bell rang and I packed up my few school supplies, along with my new book, and headed for the door. Seth was waiting for me and I smiled. I had to admit that as far as older guys went, Seth definitely wasn't a creeper even though he liked my nearly ten year old sister. He was honorable and loyal. The entire way to study hall, he talked about nothing else except Angel.

"Do you think that Angel will want to read this stupid book?" He asked, pointing at the blue cover in my hands. "I think she'll love it, don't you? I mean, how could someone so sweet and loving not like a book that is full of such mushiness that is perfect for a sweet girl like her." His smile was nearly blinding but it comforted me to know that Seth wasn't some jerk. I couldn't help but feel love towards the man that I was intrusting my baby's life with. We walked into Study Hall, big smiles lighting up both our faces as we continued to talk about Angel and how great a kid she was.

Suddenly, I FELT a deep burning hatred and I shook my head to clear the feeling. I smiled shyly at Fang when I spotted him at an empty table. He patted the seat next to him and I sat there, motioning for Seth to follow. Fang let out a low growl and Seth decided to sit somewhere else.

"That was immature." I pointed out, staring Fang down. I FELT hurt, rejection, and then anger again.

"Fine. Go sit with your boyfriend then!" Fang whisper-yelled, trying not to catch anyone's attention. I knew that Seth could hear us though, what with his wolf hearing and all.

"I thought that's what I was doing!" I spoke quietly, though not nearly as quiet as Fang could pull off. "If you don't want to sit by me then you could have just told me or, you know, not saved me a seat in the first place."

I FELT remorse even though my own emotions were still angry and hurt. "I didn't mean it Max." Fang apologized, gazing at me with those deep brown eyes that I love so much. "I just…I was jealous that you were giving Seth attention. I know that neither of you feels _that _way towards the other, I just can't loose you now that I've had to live with that possibility because of the whole imprinting thing."

"It's--" I was interrupted by the sound of a quiet female voice clearing her throat. I looked up and noticed that everyone was sitting down except the short brunette in front of Fang and me. She had on baggy jeans and a loose t-shirt, definitely hand-me-downs, and her long brown hair was down, covering most of her face. I could just barely make out her blue eyes underneath her bangs.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked again and glanced at the seat across from me. I shook my head and she took that as her invite to sit down. She cleared her throat again, eying Fang and I in our matching outfits and stuck out her hand for us to shake. "I'm Layla Morris. You're part of the Cullen family." She stated with a tiny smile.

Fang nodded curtly. I nudged him in the ribs and he introduced himself. "Nick Cullen." Really? Is that all he had to say?

I rolled my eyes. "I'm Madison Ride, but you can call me Max. Sorry about my friend here, he's not used to people; foster kid and all that." I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked. This didn't go unnoticed by Layla.

"Wow. You guys are so connected." She stated, almost to herself. When I asked her what she meant, she lowered her head in shame. "I can feel bonds between people. Have been able to since I was born." She mumbled into her hair. She looked up with pleaded eyes. "Please don't think I'm some freak now. Most of the kids here won't even talk to me once they find out."

I smiled. "Trust me, that's not the weirdest thing I've heard of even this week. Besides," I caught Fang's eye and smirked knowingly. "aren't we all freaks in our own way? To me, it's the 'normal' people that you have to watch out for. Didn't you ever notice that most serial killers are the most normal, friendly people you've ever met? I'd rather everyone know I'm a freak then pretend to be normal just to fit in with a bunch of wannabes." Wow, I sounded like Nudge.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Layla said with a smile, her face no longer hidden by her hair. I smiled back; I think I just made my first human friend since I arrived at Forks.


	4. Jealousy & Threats

Chapter four

Nessie's POV

The day past by in a blur and before I knew it, it was lunch time. Max and I walked together to the cafeteria from Algebra. I knew that I wasn't the only one of us that was grateful to be out of Mr. Shower's classroom. Lets just say that he wasn't the only one who noticed how incredibly beautiful Max and I were. I was used to the stares, especially from Jake, but Max got embarrassed whenever the guy next to her, John I think was his name, asked to borrow a pencil or offered to help her with her homework. Seriously, the guy had better back off before Fang realizes that he isn't the only one that likes Max.

We walked through the double doors and I teased her again as we got in line for our food. "Ten bucks says John asks you out before the end of the day." I wagered as we paid for our meals. Mine was about half the size of Max's. Max's face turned beet red and she shook her head. I simply smiled in response.

I spotted the rest of our 'family' at a table by themselves. I guess we had taken longer in line than I'd thought. Fang was gripping the edge of the table, earning himself numerous 'you're-crazy' looks from the Flock. Jacob and Seth were too busy eating to notice anything, even Max and I's arrival. I sat down next to Jacob and projected **Save some for the rest of the students** to him with a laugh. He turned towards me and grinned, despite his mouth full of food. God, he was so adorable. He swallowed and kissed my cheek, mouthing the words "I love you." Which caused my face to redden.

**Love you too Jake. **I sent back, keeping my hand on his. He intertwined our fingers and continued eating, he just had to switch his fork to his left hand despite it being inconvenient for him since he was a righty.

Max and Fang seemed to be having a quiet conversation, barely speaking with their mouths and just letting their eyes do the talking. It was sort of freaky the way they didn't need words to communicate. The only other people I'd ever seen do that were my parents and that didn't really count because my dad just read Bella's mind and she'd nod yes or no in response.

Suddenly, Fang jumped up from the table and headed in the direction of the main jock table. Max sat at our table, growling angrily. Fang stopped in front of a leather jacket that I only assumed belonged to John. Fang spun the guy around and I confirmed it. John's expression was fearful yet somehow still cocky. His jock buddies looked like they would back him up if it came to that.

"Don't ever try to flirt with my girlfriend again." Fang threatened and John gulped, looking around the cafeteria.

"I don't know who you're talking about man." He responded, even though his eyes had already landed on our table. Max and Fang growled simultaneously, then Max's eyes got big as if she hadn't planned on doing that.

John smiled hugely when he realized that Max was who Fang had been talking about. "Oh, well now that I can't promise." He said with a wink in Max's direction.

Fang picked the guy up by his leather jacket and held his face near his own in an intimidating manner. "You will leave her alone…" Fang smirked. "unless you want to take this outside and duke it out like men."

"Now, that just sounds like a challenge." John argued back just as seriously. "You're on." He whispered so only those with advanced hearing like my 'family' could hear. "Winner gets the blonde."

This time, it was Angel who growled. I felt sort of sorry for her, having to be in someone's mind who clearly seemed like a pervert. "I'll meet you after school behind the school. There are woods back there and none of the faculty will catch us." John commented, loud enough for the tables near him to hear.

"You might not want an audience…when I kick your butt." Fang threatened darkly.

'This was not going to end well' I thought as the bell rang and we headed to our next classes.


	5. Physical Violence

Chapter 5

Fang's POV

I FELT the anger rolling off of Max when she finally tracked me down in our last period class, 'physical education.' Ha! As if battling Erasers and Flyboys wasn't enough of a workout, now we had to climb up a rope and run around the track to prove our endurance. This class was going to be a breeze.

Jake and Seth were in this class too but I was ignoring them, too disgusted with myself to acknowledge them. Layla motioned for Max to head to the changing rooms with her and my other half turned her back towards me and headed in that direction. I watched her gorgeous dirty blonde hair walk away angrily, not allowing myself to remember that I was the reason she was so upset.

The coach had been speaking for some time, giving instructions to the four new students, aka us, but Max and I hadn't been paying a lick of attention.

Eyes still locked on Max, I let Jacob drag me to the guys' changing room. Once inside, I quickly changed, using my avian speed, and rushed back out to the gym. I heard Seth covering for me with the boys not in the know. "Yeah, our little Nick is in training for a race…"

Jacob laughed and continued where his 'brother' had left off. "He's convinced himself that he has to do everything fast; even dressing." More laughs from all the guys in the locker room but I had other things on my mind.

I knew Max was still mad at me for threatening that stupid human boy at lunch but really this was her fault. If she hadn't of been feeling so excited to see that wiener then I wouldn't have lost my cool. Oh, who am I kidding? This is totally my fault.

I spotted Max on the other side of the gym and could FEEL her irritation still. Before I could talk to her, the rest of the students filed out of the changing rooms, all wearing the white t-shirts and black basketball shorts. 'At least the shorts were black.' I thought, hating that I wasn't allowed to wear my normal all-black ensemble thanks to the school system (and Alice.)

Max smirked when she came to the same conclusion that I did and pointed at her white shirt, whispering ever so quietly that only the wolves and I picked it up. "Nice shirt." God, even when she was mad at me she still managed to get me smiling (or in my case, curling the side of my lip upwards ever so slightly). I didn't deserve her. I suddenly felt inferior and I put on my poker face.

Gym, after that, passed in a blur. I didn't get a chance to talk to Max much after that because Coach Todd put us on different volleyball teams. To make matters worse, Max 'accidentally' hit one of the peppy blonde girls on my team upside the head, causing the girl to go to the nurse and her to get sent to the office despite her claims that "it barely even touched that girl." Apparently, in Forks, they take concussions seriously.

I could FEEL Max's annoyance towards the girl (whose name I think is Britney), the school system, Coach Todd, and even more than that, me. Man, I needed to fix this. As soon as P.E. was over, I headed towards the office. We needed to turn in our slips anyway so it wasn't like I was stalking Max or anything. Okay, so that was a lie. Girlfriend or not, she was still our Flock leader and I knew that she needed some back up against authority figures. Ironically enough, I had always been able to talk us out of human problems with adults; Whitecoats were Max's specialty.

Just like I suspected, Max and the principle were having a heated conversation about the Do's and Don'ts of sportsmanship. I love Max to death, but sometimes that girl needs to learn when to shut her mouth. Especially when the principle throws out words like "suspension" and "restraining order." Okay, the last one came from Britney's dad who showed up a few minutes after the school notified him that his daughter was unconscious in the nurse's office.

I knocked on the office door, despite only needing to put my slip on the front desk and walk out of the building, and everyone inside suddenly quieted down. I entered a second later when I heard a faint "who is it?" from the principle.

I put on my best 'innocent, lost puppy face' as Angel once named it and cleared my throat. "Um, Mr. Kilzer?" I asked, 'nervously' as a big, sturdy football type man with dark brown hair nodded, eyeing my designer jeans and pressed shirt that matched Max's. He looked curious, a little less mad, and definitely not thinking about expelling Max.

Showtime. "I was just looking for Max, she's sorta become my sister since we've been living with the Cullens and I was worried that she was going to have to stand trial or something just for having a strong serve and bad aim." I said with a fake laugh. The principle bought it up though and I could FEEL relief from Max even though her expression never changed. I handed him my slip, the tiny diversion that Max needed to walk to the side of the room where I was standing.

"I promise that I will try not to be as competitive next time." Max apologized though I could FEEL that it wasn't sincere. She turned towards the balding blonde man who looked exactly like an older, male version of Britney. "And I'm real sorry that your daughter got hurt, Mr. Brown."

"We'll deal with punishment later, Ms. Ride." Mr. Kilzer said sternly. For a moment there, I almost thought that Max was off the hook. Shoot! What were we going to tell Carlisle and Esme? "I'll be calling your caregivers later tonight to inform them of what the school board finds appropriate. You are free to go now."

We exited the office and guess who we bumped into? If you guessed the rest of our family, you'd be wrong. No, instead we ran smack into the cocky jock who thought he had the right to even _look _at my Max. He grabbed onto Max's waist and pulled her down with him as he fell. I suppressed the urge to growl until I FELT her coy embarrassment.

I pulled the little punk off of _my _girl and punched him square in the jaw. His reaction time was slower than Iggy's and he's _blind. _Man, if this jock thought he ever had a chance with Max he was in way over his head. Not to brag or anything, but I'm the best fighter in the Flock. I kicked this guy's butt in maybe less than five minutes, forcing myself to drag it out longer just to see his pained expression.

"Fang! Fang!" Max yelled, pulling desperately at me to try and get me to snap out of it. The principle and most of the staff had come out of the buildings to see what the commotion was about. "Nick, Stop!" Max commanded, pulling my arms backwards in a restraining motion that also restricted my wing muscles from moving. It was a cheap trick and we both knew it.

I spun around on my heels when she let me go, my eyes still foaming with anger. I FELT terrified and took a step back. Max. Was. Scared. Of. Me? Even my best death glare didn't do anything on her. I blocked everything out after that, running into the tiny woods that was behind the campus. When my breathing had steadied, I took off in the air, careful to avoid detection of any human's attention.


	6. Phone Call

Chapter 6

Esme's POV

Fang stormed through the door, and headed straight to the room he shared with Max. At first, Carlisle and I had protested the deal but they weren't breaking any Cullen rules and it was actually the only way to convince the Flock to stay after Fang got bitten by our poor little Renesme.

"How was school?" I ask loud enough for his hearing to pick up. My husband was at work still and the rest of my children were out hunting before school ended and they'd have to be back to greet the kids.

"You'll find out about it soon." He commented, barely above an angry whisper. Edward appeared at my side at that moment and told me to let Fang sort this out on his own. Bella gave him a confused look and Rose, Jazz, and Emmett looked just as confused. Alice was pouting, her vision of the rest of the week disappearing from her sight. She hates being blind, so to speak.

Ten minutes later, the school children arrived and they bounded into the room happily. Well, except for Max. She looked beyond ticked. "I feel bad enough Max!" Fang yelled at her from their room and she went up there to have their fight as discreetly as possible.

"What's that about?" Emmett asked and Nudge started rambling in response. "Well, Fang got into a fight with this guy who kept hitting on Max and then he flew home which made her even madder. The principal saw the whole thing, well not the flying away thing but the beating-up-a-fragile-human thing and so now he's upset at our family 'cause from what Jake told us, John was the second person that the two of them hurt today. Not Jake and Fang, but Max and Fang. Yeah, she hit my friend Britney in the head with a volleyball during P.E. but I'm not really sure why 'cause Brit is still unconscious so she can't really tell me the reason. Do you think that they'll be expelled? 'Cause the nurse seemed kind of upset that two of the new kids were causing so much pain on their first day…."

Nudge would have continued but Iggy put his hand over her mouth and wrapped his arms around her waist. She giggled and Iggy dragged her, Angel, and Gazzy to his room so they could work on their homework. Seth followed behind, having no idea where else to go since Nessie and Jake went to the cottage with Edward and Bella. Carlisle walked through the door and my other children quickly went to their rooms. I still found it amusing that despite them being fierce predators, they were still afraid of getting yelled at by their dad.

"I got a call at work from Principal Kilzer at Forks High School. It appears that Max and Fang are expelled for fighting. Well, Max didn't actually fight anyone but the girl she injured was taken to the hospital and her dad is pressing charges." Carlisle said before kissing me briefly. He rubbed his forehead in irritation, one of his human traits he still carried even when not in the presence of humans. Most of us had traits for show. "What are we going to do with those two?" He whispered.

"We'll figure something out." I told him before calling Max and Fang down to the living room.

**Sorry so short. I just didn't want to put that much effort into this scene. Don't take that out on my reviews though :)**


	7. Heart to Heart

Chapter 7

Jasper's POV

Alice sat in our plush white bed, a prop that she had become attached to over the years, her lips drawn down in a frown. I didn't have to be an empath to be able to know what my wife was feeling. The fact that I _can_ feel her anxiety and discomfort makes it worse.

I moved behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and planted soothing kisses on her neck. The gesture wasn't merely sensual, but also calming towards her. Every time my lips touched her skin, I would send a wave of peace and happiness and relaxation.

I hated when she felt upset about something because it made _me _feel upset too. Other people's emotions were much easier to ignore; but I am so connected to my Alice that I can't shut down my connection to her emotions.

"What's wrong, Allie?" I asked, using my special nickname for her that I saved only for private moments, and she turned around to where she was sitting in my lap, my arms still around her.

"I hate being blind!" She exclaimed with a vampire whisper. "With the Flock here, I can barely see what I'm going to be wearing tomorrow, let alone what is going on with the rest of the family." She paused, her eyes clouding over before returning to their normal color. "They're coming."

"Who is?" I whispered back. Despite it being the middle of the night and not needing to ever sleep, we had to be quiet because the Flock were sleeping upstairs. Rosalie and Emmett knew that they couldn't keep it down so they were in the basement, two floors in between the Flock and them.

"The Volturi." She mumbled, burying her head in my cold hard chest. "It was a partial vision but it seems our good friends want to visit us soon."

"Do ya think they know 'bout the Flock?" I asked, my southern accent slipping out. Her face remained the same but I could feel her confusion and doubts.

"How could they?" She asked. "Unless they have spies that we haven't caught on to, then they don't know that we're 'harboring humans.' Oh God, what if they know the Flock is here? What if they're on their way because they think we're trying to expand our 'coven?'" Alice looked at me panicky.

I sent her more reassuring waves, this time kissing her lips softly. Sure, I could just _think _the calm emotions in her direction, but really where would the fun be in that? Alice smiled against my lips and I felt her gratitude towards me for the distraction.

I pulled away, sensing someone else's emotions heading towards our door. I picked up the sound of a faint heartbeat and listened closer to try and distinguish which partially human houseguest it was. Angel, maybe? Definitely not one of the boys or Max; they had stronger heartbeats.

"I have a strong heartbeat too, Jasper." I heard Angel say from the other side of the door. Alice giggled, her laugh sounding like wind chimes on a summer night.

"I know ya do, sweetie." I commented sincerely and Alice got off my lap to open the bedroom door. "The others just have strong-_er_ heartbeats. Its nothing to be 'shamed of Angel. It just comes with a human's age."

"Oh, I know." Angel said, her blonde curls bouncing as she came bounding into the room behind my wife. "I just wanted you to know that I'm strong too. I may be a child now, but one day I'll be as strong as Max or maybe even Fang." For a ten year old, she sure knew what she wanted.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to ask you guys about something that's been bugging me. Seth won't tell me, says its not his story to share and that a Cullen would tell it better, and everyone else is always too busy to talk to me. I might be the youngest physically but I'm a lot smarter than most of you could even imagine." Angel didn't have trouble speaking her mind.

"What's upsetting ya, sweetie?" I asked, motioning for Angel to take a seat on one of our matching white couches, both props that Alice decided she _had _to have on our trip to Alaska a few years ago.

Instead, Angel jumped on the bed next to me, her little barefoot toes dangling off the edge of the bed frame. Alice just giggled again when she saw my expression. If she had been human still, her cheeks would have been flushed in guilt. "Sorry." Alice apologized, although I couldn't feel her sympathy. "I told her in my mind that she could sit by us."

Angel looked at me, her baby blue eyes suddenly becoming serious-their playfulness gone. "What is a Volturi? Max keeps seeing the word in her mind from a brain attack-"

"A brain attack? What's that?" I interrupted, not able to stop my curiosity. It was a habit from my human life. I always seemed to have a question at the tip of my tongue but I usually was able to hold back.

Angel put her hand to her chin, clearly a 'thinking face' that she copied from someone older (probably Max from the way she admired their leader), and scrunched her brow.

"Brain attacks are hard to explain…" Angel started. "Its like, like 'having a whole bunch of random memories that haven't happened yet and images from places you've never been and random words that don't mean anything to you shoved into your mind in the most increasingly painful way that you can imagine'…well that's how Max explained it to Fang once."

"That sounds just awful." Alice said, feeling sympathy. Angel just shuddered and replied, "I've only been in her mind once when she's had a brain attack…and I'll never do that again. I don't know how Max stands it."

"But what is this about the Volturi?" I asked, thinking of the royal vampire coven that had threatened our family on more than one occasion. But if Max thinks that they're coming then that just confirms Alice's partial vision.

"The Volturi are _vampires_?" Angel asked, obviously having read my mind. No matter how many times Edward has done the same thing, I still couldn't get used to anyone inside my head other than myself.

"Not just any vampires." Alice said with a dark tone. "The Volturi are a heartless conniving bunch of vampires that rule over the rest of us. They usually come in on 'friendly terms' and we make one tiny mistake or say something wrong and suddenly its WWIII."

I continued where my wife had left off. "We've encountered them a few times over the centuries. The most recent visit was just after Renesme was born. The Volturi got word of an 'immortal child' and sent the _entire _guard plus dozens of witnesses. We, thanks to my cunning wife," I winked at Alice who giggled modestly, "proved that Nessie wasn't a threat and we weren't creating an army of newborns."

"But from what I've heard of your thoughts, if the Volturi are coming, its probably because of the Flock…right?" Angel stated skeptically. Alice patted her back reassuringly. "We don't know that for sure, honey. Right now, your guess is as good as mine. They could actually be coming to check Nessie's progress; she is nearly full grown now." She said and Angel smiled weakly.

I glanced at the digital clock on the wall and was shocked to find that we had been talking for an hour. "Now run along to bed before Nudge notices you're missin.'" I said and Angel nodded. She hopped off the bed and headed towards the room that she shared with Nudge.

At first the girls had had separate rooms but after the first week went by (and they kept sneaking into each others' rooms), Max told them to pick a room and stick to it. Apparently, their old habits die hard. Every time the Flock stayed in a hotel (which had become more frequent as the Eraser/Flyboy sightings lessened), the girls would share, Gazzy and Iggy would bunk together, and Max and Fang would be in their own room.


	8. Laying Down The Law

Chapter 8

Jacob's POV

"Jake, Edward and I would like to speak with you a moment." Bella said, her golden eyes looking anywhere but at me.

"What'd I do now?" I almost whined and Renesme giggled from my lap. I smiled at her, glad that I could make her happy.

She smiled back and for a moment I forgot that her parents were in the room with us. I kissed her swiftly but when I tried to move away, she held me tighter. Her hands held my face to hers, pulling me closer until there was no space between us. It made me think of something that I never would have thought of about my Nessie before we got engaged.

Edward growled and Nessie giggled sheepishly as she removed herself from my lap. "Keep your thoughts down!" He bellowed and both of us blushed. I guess I wasn't the only one who was thinking about our wedding night.

"I'm gonna go get ready for bed." Renesme said and headed to her bedroom. We had a secret code. If she wanted me to meet her in the forest once her parents were 'preoccupied' then she would say "get ready for bed," if she really just wanted to go to sleep she'd say "go to bed." I would meet her at our tree in an hour.

Once she was safely behind closed doors, I turned towards her parents. Bella looked like she was about to crack up laughing while Edward looked like he wanted to skin me alive. Maybe he did.

"So what'd you guys wanna talk to me about?" I asked, counting down the minutes til I could see Renesme again. Luckily, this went unnoticed by the mind reader or else I'd be in even _more _trouble.

"We just wanted to remind you of the rules." Edward said through clenched teeth. I could tell that this was hard for him, seeing his only daughter about to get married. "Its not the wedding I have a problem with, its whether or not you can be patient until then that worries me."

"What?…oh, ooooh." I said rather brilliantly once his true intentions dawned on me. "You don't think that we'd…that we'd _you know_ before the wedding, do you? Because I may be a lot of things but I do have some morals." I continued when Edward's expression didn't change. "Besides, I want to make our first time special for Renesme and getting 'caught up in the moment' isn't part of that plan."

"I know you don't but we were teenagers once too, Jake." Bella commented and I shook my head. They still _were _teenagers. 'Those two still acted like hormonal teenagers, couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other. They reminded me a little of Renesme.' I thought, thinking about how Nessie didn't seem to be the one to have much control in our relationship. 'Hmm, maybe that's what they meant…'

"Yes, Renesme does seem to have inherited _that _from her mother as well." Edward admitted reluctantly. "All we're saying is that if that's true then you have to be the one to stop her; imprint or no imprint. Its only three months until your wedding day."

Suddenly, my heart started hurting. Oh god, where was Renesme? I needed to see her right now to make sure she was okay. "Where are you going, Jake?" Bella asked as I stormed into Nessie's room.

I phased instantly as Edward growled. "Renesme is missing!" I took off into the forest, having to loop back to Our Tree after I accidentally over shot it. I sniffed the area, she was definitely here…two minutes ago. Her scent suddenly disappeared in the middle of the forest.

I smelt something else, what was that?, it smelled kind of like bird's blood mixed with human. Max. I was too concerned about my Nessie being missing to think that Max was hurt somewhere.

'Hopefully, they went back to the main house for something.' I thought as I bounded towards the house, Bella and Edward following behind me. Somewhere deep in my stomach I knew that things weren't going to end well.


	9. Kidnapping

Chapter 9

Nahuel's POV

I stared at the vampire family in front of me; they were the same as I remember then, except my little Renesme was almost fully grown. As ironic as it is for a vampire, I'm waiting for nighttime to make my move, crouching in a bush outside of the cottage.

My mind was blocked from Edward, a trick that I picked up from a wandering vamp with many unique gifts, and my scent and heartbeat were hidden due to my power (I had kept it a secret from the Cullens because I wasn't sure how the tussle with the Volturi would turn out and I did NOT want to be one of their collector items).

Its funny how things worked out. Last year, or even six years for that matter, if you had told me that I would be staking outside the Cullen house planning to kidnap Renesme, I would have said you were crazy. But here I crouch outside her window, my teeth blazing.

If my mother could see me now, I know Pire would be disappointed. My father Joham on the other hand, would probably be glad that I was following in his footsteps; but he was killed by Aro and his buddies when they finally tracked him down last year and the Volturi offered me the deal.

But maybe I should rewind here. I'm not the cruel, sadistic vampire that you are probably thinking I am right now for what I just said. Maybe, once you've heard my story, you'll understand better why I am about to do what I'm planning on doing.

* * *

FLASHBACK

* * *

I spotted my Aunt Huilen in our dense forest home in South America. We had been traveling aimlessly since the Cullen/Volturi confrontation. Even though I pose no threat to either group, Huilen decided that it would be safer for us if we always kept on the move. I didn't really mind; I was easily restless and enjoyed the change of scenery.

"Hey, Huilen. Watch this!" I exclaimed, sounding like the teenager I looked. Forever eighteen despite being over a hundred and sixty years old, wise beyond my years yet treated like a child by my aunt, desperate for companionship with someone other than my relatives yet denied the only other one of my kind that could fulfill that void,; all in all, my life was a mess. But I didn't want my aunt to know that, she did raise me since birth after I accidentally killed my mother.

When Huilen turned to look at me, her eyes glowing a deep golden (we had both become 'vegetarians' after meeting Nessie and the Cullens), I smiled and somersaulted into the deep lake that we created one night when we first moved in. I saw my aunt laughing, high pitched bells going off in my head as I hit the water.

By the time I broke the surface of the water, the happy scene had changed. Two vampires were restraining Huilen. Her long braided black hair was being pulled by the taller of the boys and she looked like she wanted to rip his head off. If I remember correctly, their names were Demetri and Felix; prized members of the Volturi guard.

I let out a snarl and rushed to their side. "What are you doing to my aunt?"

Felix smiled, his lips curling back to expose his razor sharp teeth. "Taking her to Aro, of course."

"But why? We have done nothing wrong. We only want to live in peace in the jungle out of the humans' detection." I said even though I knew that Aro didn't need an actual reason to take vampires in for 'questioning.' "What is Huilen accused of?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Demetri responded, pretending to think. "How about treason? And attempted mutiny for the little stunt you guys pulled five years ago with the Cullen bunch? Most of the participants have already been punished."

"What do you mean _punished?_" Huilen asked, glaring angrily at them.

"That's for Caius, Marcus, and Aro to decide now isn't it?" Felix asked with a hint of glee. I could tell that the boy enjoyed his job.

That's how I ended up in Italy with my aunt, begging to be spared from the _punishment _that some of the other nomads had faced. (The smaller groups were easier targets for the Volturi to manipulate and they slowly started picking up all the rebellers one by one.)

Although I didn't wish to die, I certainly didn't want to become a trophy like Charles, one of the European nomads, was. I think his power was to detect lies. His mate Makenna was standing behind him; although she wasn't powerful, I doubt that he would have decided to join the Volturi if they had killed her.

"Ah, young Nahuel! You are in good health?" Aro asked, talking to me as if we've been friends for centuries. "Welcome to my home! Stay as long as you wish." He said and I could hear the underlining suggestion in his casual, supposedly welcoming statement.

I growled in the back of my throat. "I have my own home, thank you. I'd like to get back there soon if you don't mind. I do not wish to join your coven. Not now, not ever. I'd rather die than work for you, dear Aro."

Jane, one of the strongest (though not actually physically) members of the guard, clapped her hands sarcastically. "Let the boy have his wish. Really, who are we to stop a man's wishes?"

Suddenly, I was spazing on the floor, my mind and body collapsing on themselves. I didn't know what death felt like, but if this was it then I wish it would end soon. Even if vampires don't have an afterlife, complete nothingness is better than having this moment drawn out.

"Please! Spare my nephew!" Aunt Huilen said and the withering pain stopped.

"And why should we?" Jane asked arrogantly.

"He is the only one of his gender of his kind. Lets not let the possibilities die with him!" Huilen begged, trying to play the endangered species card with the trio. Marcus and Caius looked unmoved, but Aro seemed delighted about something.

"That is something to consider isn't it?" Aro asked, mainly to himself, his deep red eyes fascinated. "The last of your kind and with no way to continue your special breed…it's a shame that we won't be able to study your children. To think! Children with half-human, half-vampire parents! Have you ever heard anything more intriguing? All the more reason to keep him in Italy where we can keep a watchful eye on him until a suitable mate comes along."

"I say we just kill them. They were traitors towards everything our species has worked centuries to establish." Caius spoke up, glancing lazily at the two of us. Even though he didn't really believe that the two of us posed any threat to them, he also knew that if they didn't deal with us, we would probably go back to the Cullens and help assemble another fighting crew.

"Lets not be rash now good Caius." My aunt said patiently, her voice coming out like silk. "I wish to speak to you without my nephew present. I beg your pardon, but he has the arrogance of a teenager and does not handle diplomacy well."

I was escorted out of the room and into a holding cell of some sort. The room was damp, dark, and disgusting. The slight scent of blood in the corner was setting off alarms in my mind but I knew that there was nothing I could do about that now.

When I was brought back before Aro, my deal had been decided. "You are to capture the Cullen hybrid and make her your mate." Aro explained. "Your children should be interesting specimen to study."

"You mean Renesme???" I asked in almost a screech. If they seriously thought that I was going to _ever _get a fair shot with Nessie than they had to be seriously mistaken. "She already has a partner." I tried to explain, thinking of the oversized russet wolf.

"I don't care!" Aro said in a peacefully-angry manner. "Bring back one of your children or we'll go get Renesme for you ourselves. Trust me when I say that a trip to the Cullens' would be less…casualty-stricken if you made the attempt first."

I nodded, afraid that the entire Volturi would revisit the Cullens. I doubt that this time they would make it out alive.

* * *

END FLASHBACK

* * *

Really, if you had been in my shoes you would have done the same thing. My plan went according to plan, Renesme went for a midnight run in the forest. She stopped at a big oversized tree that smelled of her and that wolf she was so attached to. The only thing that I wasn't expecting was the other girl that was hiding up in the tree. She jumped down when she saw Renesme, landing gracefully on the ground.

The second I smelt her, I attacked and scratched her arm. I tried to bite her but Nessie was in my face before I could do anything. Instead, my aunt crept out of the bushes and together the two of us grabbed both girls and took off running. (The blonde girl was knocked unconscious because of loss of blood and I knew that she would smell like me so I couldn't risk leaving her behind.)

I masked our scents and within a few hours, we were in Arizona. We needed to go somewhere that the Cullens wouldn't think to look for us. Besides, it was warm there and it felt sort of like home.


	10. Denial & Remembering

Chapter 10

Max's POV

When I woke up, I was confused out of my mind. I was tied to a wooden chair and Renesme was in the same position next to me. From the dusty, barren smell, I could tell that the School hadn't kidnapped us. Even though the Flock had completely destroyed each and every remaining School, I still couldn't help but feel relief when I noticed that I wasn't strapped to a lab table in a sterile white room.

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice coming out shallower than I'd hoped. I felt a throbbing pain in my arm and glanced it. There was caked on blood covering most of my forearm. "What happened?"

The last thing that I remember from last night was going out for a midnight fly to try and clear my head. Being suspended was the least of my problems, despite what the Cullens think. Since we've arrived in Forks, I've been feeling more emotions that just my own. If I thought the Voice leaving was going to make me feel someone else's emotions, I would have never told him/her to leave me alone.

"An old friend attacked you and then took us here." Renesme explained as if it were noting, a friendly smile playing on her lips. I mean, hello?, we were kidnapped! Usually most people would consider this a big deal.

"Um…Nessie, I know I may not know you that well but doesn't being tied to a chair mean that we were kidnapped?" I asked and Nessie let out a small chuckle. 'Was this all a joke to her?' I thought as I questioned her sanity.

"Of course we were." Nessie said, her laughing turning into a bitter sound as she continued to speak. "And before you ask, I also know that my good buddy Nahuel wants me for some reason and that's why he took us." She was practically weeping by now. "I just wanna go home, Max. I wanna be with my Jacob and the rest of my family. I'm so sorry that I got us into this mess."

I felt remorse for this teenaged looking girl. Here she was, in the same situation as I was, and she was apologizing…to me. I tried to calm her but since I was neither A) a big hugger or B) able to actually reach her through both of our ropes, I settled for giving her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me, Ness." I said, trying to sound not at all worried even though I was shaking in my Converse. "I've been through much worse than this, trust me."

A few moments later, two dark brown vampires with braided black hair entered the room. The male had brown eyes with gold flecks in them while the female had golden ones. 'At least they're vegetarians.' I thought. 'That's one problem down.'

"Oh good, you survived!" The male, Nahuel?, exclaimed when he spotted me. "Sorry about the ropes, but we just couldn't have you fighting us again. You've got quite the sucker punch there Max." He said with a smile and I scowled. I still didn't know what he was talking about. Suddenly, my memories from last night came rushing back.

FLASHBACK

I could still FEEL anxiety that wasn't mine and it was about to drive me up the wall. I couldn't even help it when I started subconsciously passing the floor. I hoped to God that I wasn't feeling the Voice's emotions. That would just be a new twist on the sick game that Jeb has me playing.

Usually I would talk to Fang about this, but how could I tell my boyfriend/right-winged man that I was going crazy…or crazier (we all knew I was messed up in the head). But how could I _not _tell Fang? I mean, dare I say it?, I love him. I've always told Fang everything, every fear, every insecurity, even when I thought I was turning into an Eraser all those years ago (the good news is that was just a trick from the good-ole School).

I FELT remorse washing over me and that's when I snapped. I dove out my window and spread my wings as wide as I could. I beat my wings faster and faster, pumping them until I was long away from the Cullen mansion. I stopped when I ran out of my own emotional energy. The other person was still FEELING things; worry, love, regret. I wish this person would just leave me alone!

I was punching the giant spruce tree when I heard someone approach the base of the tree. I glanced down and spotted Renesme, dressed in her pink cotton pajamas, standing beneath the tree. I jumped out of the branch I had been standing on and landed on the ground as gracefully as I could.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar vampire shot out of the bushes and towards the two of us. He moved faster than I could and before I could stop him, he scratched my arm with his razor sharp nails. I punched him across the face and was satisfied when I heard a cracking sound.

He tried to come at me again, his teeth blazing, but Renesme stepped in his path. I tried to stay focused to see what happened to the guy but my arm was gushing out blood and my head was spinning. I felt someone throwing me over their shoulder before I drifted off into unconsciousness.

END FLASHBACK

I let out a growl. "You did this to me! You're the reason I almost died from blood loss! Don't come in here and say my name like you know me!" I said defensively.

Nahuel shot the other woman a smile and, thinking I couldn't hear him, said. "I told you she would be feisty. It was that expression on her face while she was sleeping that made me think that."

"Calm down, young one." The woman 'whispered' back. "I understand that your people skills are getting better but this is but a small victory. Lets not forget that you _did _endanger her life in the first place. Volturi or no Volturi, that was a huge mistake."

Nahuel turned to me and Renesme with a less excited expression on his face. This woman really had him in check. He caught me staring at the full vampire and pointed towards her. "Forgive me Max, this is Huilen. Renesme you remember my aunt from the Volturi encounter, don't you?"

"How could I forget?" Nessie stated in a bored tone even though I could tell she wasn't comfortable here.

"You don't have to be dramatic about it." Nahuel said, a bemused smile on his lips. For a kidnapper, he sure was cheerful.

"Why are we even here, Nahuel?" Renesme asked as she subtly cut through the ropes that were restricting her.

"The Volturi." He said quietly, almost fearfully. "They brought me and Huilen to Italy to stand trial for 'attempted mutiny' and 'treason.' They decided that instead of killing us and coming after your whole family…and the wolves, that they would make a compromise."

"What kind of compromise?" I asked, startling the vampire woman who was standing against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"That is none of your concern, human." Huilen said with an icy tone. "If it weren't for my nephew's bloodlust, you wouldn't even be here."

Nahuel's face reddened in shame as he mumbled something about his aunt finalizing the deal and that he would have rather wished death upon himself. "I have to bring him a hybrid child or else They are going to kill most of us and take the rest as trophies."

His eyes were apologetic when he looked at Nessie again. "They already have captured or slaughtered most of the nomads, including your friends Charles and Makenna. Your family won't stand a chance against Them alone."

"You don't expect to get away with impregnating a human girl do you?" I asked. Even though I knew how Nessie got here and what Bella and Edward went through, I doubt that Nahuel would have the same luck creating his child.

"That's not who the Volturi want as the mother." Nahuel stated, his cheeks red with humiliation.

"Oh, just spit it out boy." Huilen said angrily. She glared at me before smiling kindly at Nessie.

'Oh, crap! They didn't want Renesme did they? She was only six!' I thought disgustedly. 'I mean, sure, she was engaged to Jacob but that was different. Jacob respected her and didn't do anything she wasn't ready for or didn't want. Besides, she would be a full 'adult' by time they got married and had to deal with this kind of stuff.'

Nessie's face paled as she realized who the intended mother was. When she got over the shock, her face twisted into an angry scowl. "I won't do it. My family won't allow it! And you'd better not even think of this around my Jacob!"

"Well then, I guess that leaves you in a difficult situation, dearie." Huilen said. "The Volturi are determined to make a hybrid reproduce with another hybrid and since you are the only female one other than my nephew's sisters, Nebulae and Naomi.


	11. Tension at Home

***One Month Later!!!* I'm warning in advance that this is going to be a short chapter. Sorry. **

Chapter 11

Fang's POV

"Its been a month!" Jacob yelled at Edward angrily as he once again started pacing the floor with his giant body. He had been like this after we couldn't find any trace of Max or Renesme during the first three days. For vampires not to be able to catch a scent, it's a really bad sign. It also didn't help that we found a huge pool of Max's blood in the woods.

I'm not worried about Max being dead like the Cullens are about Renesme. Mostly its because of the secret bond that not even the mind readers know about. I can still FEEL Max's emotions. I just wish that I could hear her thoughts because then I could know where she is.

"Don't you think I know that!" Edward rawred back. The two didn't seem to be able to stop arguing since the kidnapping. Bella had quit trying to come between the two of them and just let them let out their anger on each other.

"Well you sure don't act like it!" Jacob yelled back, his body starting to shake. "You won't even help with the searches anymore! My Nessie is out there somewhere and you don't even care!"

"How dare you!!!" Edward snarled as he collided with Jake and pushed him out into the front yard. "She is _my _daughter! Don't you think that I'm going through enough without all of those negative thoughts in your head!"

I tuned them out, having already heard this conversation a million times. The rest of the Cullens were hiding out in their rooms, since they didn't seem to think that they had any reason now that Renesme was gone. It was like she was their whole world now.

The Flock were just as depressed but they at least acted like they were doing okay. All but Angel had started going back to school and got back into their routine of things; she imprint forced Seth to continue with his studies because she felt bad that he skipped the first week with her. Carlisle had to call the school and say that Max, Nessie, Jake, and Angel were getting home schooled until they thought they were ready to go back.

I FELT worry and pure fear from Max and I sighed in response. Life without my Max by my side was like flying without wings or swimming in a pool of feta cheese; simply impossible.


	12. Good News & Bad News

Chapter 12

Renesme's POV

I growled when the door opened and I saw Nahuel walk into the small hut that we had been staying at since he and his aunt kidnapped me and Max. He refuses to let either of us outside for fear that we will run away and ruin their plans but they have the 'decency' to give us time away from the two of them.

It had over a month with this creep and I was more than anxious to get home to my family. Not to mention to watch them rip him to shreds and burn him alive; at least that's what I envision they'll do when they find out about what Nahuel did to me.

Now before you go jumping to conclusions, Nahuel did not force me to sleep with him. I guess I should be grateful for that part at least, even though he did manage to impregnate me anyway. That part was due to the fact that his aunt is a whiz at biology and a whole lot stronger than me or Max. She knocked the both of us out and injected me with Nahuel's sperm while he was out hunting.

Speaking of Max, she's in the corner of the room pacing, her right leg tied to the wall with a solid iron chain. She's preparing for Huilen to return again. The full vampire is usually gone for three days and then comes back for five days with golden-er eyes and more strength to go a couple rounds with Max.

The avian could hold her own but considering Huilen never needs to sleep and Max does, the odds aren't good. Max has had to heal almost every bone in her body since she's been here and seeing her in that much pain is killing me.

Nahuel glanced at Max's pacing, taking in her new limp, but chose to ignore her presence like he usually did. Instead, he knelt by the side of mine and Max's bed. I was no longer tied down, but that was only because by now I was too big to move anywhere anyways.

I was physically about seven months pregnant despite only being technically one month along. It has something to do with the genetics of two hybrids creating a child that messes with the normal time frame. I was only a three month pregnancy.

"How was your morning, Ness?" Nahuel asked and I growled at him.

"My name is Renesme!" I said through clenched teeth. I hated that he used my Jacob's nickname like he was something special to me. Max paused her pacing to glance at me, when she noticed that Nahuel wasn't actually hurting me, she turned back to pacing again.

I wished that there was some way to contact my family, or even Max's for that matter, even though I considered them as a part of my extended family now. Suddenly, an idea struck. I could try to practice my ability to hopefully be able to project over a long distance…and without touching them. It was a long shot, but I had no other options.

As Nahuel went to the small kitchen area to start our dinner, _finally_ realizing that I didn't want to talk to him, I concentrated on a message for Max. I figured I should start small and work my way to farther distances; if I could ever figure out where we are in the first place. Momma had to do it step by step when she was learning to stretch her shield. Now she can cover the Denali's in Alaska while still in Forks.

**Max. **I thought to her the way that I usually think when I'm using my ability. When minutes passed and she didn't look like she heard me, I tried a different message and focused harder. **Turn around Max. **

"Voice?" Max asked curiously as she turned to look behind her. I raised an eyebrow. Most people say 'who said that?' when they hear someone tell them to turn around, not Voice.

"You heard that?" I asked, glancing at Nahuel who didn't seem to be paying any attention to us.

Shock was clear in her eyes when she asked, "was that _you, _Nessie?"

I simply nodded, and answered in her head instead. **I'm practicing how far I can project my ability. I don't think I can stay here any longer and I can't bare to see Huilen hurt you again. Plus there is no way that I can deliver this baby without my family or even in the middle of the forest. I…I don't think I'll make it if I have to. **I admitted in a whispered thought.

"I believe in you Renesme." Max said as she scanned the room with her eyes and came to sit by me. "How far away do you think we are?" She bit her lip and whispered. "I think I saw a Do Duh's trash wrapper from those doughnuts the other day. I mean, its not that helpful but at least we know civilization has to be somewhere around here."

"You sure it was Do Duh's?" I asked as a smile spread across my lips. Jake took me to that doughnut shop in Port Angeles early one Saturday morning, claiming that they had the best doughnuts on the planet. It turns out he was right. The small, one-of-a-kind shop did indeed make the most delicious doughnuts that I've ever had.

"Yeah. Why?" Max asked. "Ness, what does it mean? I'm sure there's like a hundred of them."

I shook my head, my starting to grow out ringlets hitting me in the face as I did so. "Nope. There is only one store anywhere and its in Phoenix, Arizona. They aren't a chain!" I yell-whispered, glad that Nahuel was too absorbed in cooking to notice our conversation.

"That means we're close! All you have to do is send the message." Max said with relief. She paused, thinking before she responded timidly. "But do you think that you'll be able to find a Cullen? Or will you be giving the message thing to like a stranger?"

"I'd be able to find my Jacob anywhere. I can feel where he's at. Always have been able to. That's how I used to win hide-n-go seek with him. Sure, it was easier to just sniff him out, but the other way made me feel like I wasn't cheating as much." I said with a happy laugh.

I closed my eyes, signifying to Max that I was going to try now, and cleared my mind of everything except my message. It was now or never. **Jake! Its Nessie. We're somewhere near Do Duh's! Not sure where, in the middle of a forest. Hurry! Max and I are fine for now but…** I paused, not sure if I should, or even could, tell Jake about the baby. Oh, god. I unintentionally cheated on Jake. Now I felt terrible.

A tear slid down my cheek and I knew that I'd never be able to get back my concentration. "Oh, god, Max. He's going to hate me…wha-what if he doesn't want to marry me when he finds out about this." I said, gesturing to my bulging stomach.

"He will. And if he doesn't, well you're better off without him. Who needs a man anyways?" Max said confidently even though I could tell she was lying through her teeth.


	13. Rescue Mission

Chapter 13

Jacob's POV

I woke to a start when I heard Nessie's voice. **Jake! Its Nessie. We're somewhere near Do Duh's! Not sure where, in the middle of a forest. Hurry! Max and I are fine for now but… **She sounded so far away or like she was talking through a straw and I could only hear her faintly but I knew that that was my Renesme's voice.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Edward, since I had been staying at their house. As creepy as it sounds, I was actually sleeping in my Nessie's bed because being away from her scent has been causing me to go into withdraws. I needed my imprint back before I went mad.

Edward nodded. "Only in your mind though." He paused and seemed to be replaying the words in his head again. "Who is Do Duh?" He asked when Bella came out of the bedroom and sat beside me.

She laughed, her voice sounding like the clicking of a champagne glass. "Its not a who, it's a place. In Port Angeles if I remember correctly. Right, Jake?"

But I wasn't even listening anymore. I found an extra pair of sweat pants and tied them to my leg so when I left in a minute I wouldn't be left naked when I didn't stop to change before I phased. Bella seemed to notice this too because she asked with a half laugh, "you want doughnuts at four in the morning?"

"No. I'm getting Max and Nessie back." I said as I strode out the door. The two of them followed and soon the Flock and the rest of the leeches were awake at the main house. Apparently I was a little loud with my explanation.

"You know where Max is?" Fang asked. He was the only one who seemed to know what I was going through, even though everyone else still worried and miserable about their disappearances.

"I know a general area. But its better than nothing." I admitted. "I'm going anyways. I need to find her before I loose my mind. I can't be away from my imprint for this long."

"We're coming with you." Fang stated as the Flock disapeared to their rooms and were back within thirty seconds. They each had a backpack, filled with clothes, supplies, and probably food, and were out the door behind me.

"Jacob." Edward said as he gestured towards the grieving vampires. "We can't go in the sunlight and it would take too long to come up with enough supplies for us to hide..." He paused and I thought he was going to say 'to Hell with it,' and just come with us but he didn't. Instead he said, "Bring my little girl back safe. And Max too."


	14. Taunting the Enemy

Chapter 14

Max's POV

Its been three hours since Nessie decided to try and contact Jacob. Neither of us is certain that she even reached him but she claims she can feel him getting closer. I went back to my pacing, my limp leg healing itself quicker now that I had adrenaline pumping in my system. This was it. Regardless of if Jake came here or not, today was the day that me and Ness were busting out of here.

Nauhel was in the kitchen fixing us dinner. Well, mostly just fixing Nessie dinner considering he despised me for attacking him and forcing his 'perfectly thought out plan' to crumble. I guess he was still a little upset that he will have to keep me alive as well as a pregnant hybrid. Tough luck Mr.

While Nauhel was distracted, I bent down to my anklet and started to unlock it with a bobby pin that I always keep handy. You never know when you have to unlock something important. Nessie saw what I was doing so I mouthed. 'I'm not waiting any longer. You think you can get up on your own?'

She nodded and started to get out of bed when Nauhel came back in the room with a plate full of pancakes. Despite it only being seven in the morning, my mouth was watering. 'Focus, Max.' I told myself and forced my eyes to look at Nauhel instead of the juicy, homemade pancakes.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Nauhel asked and Nessie's eyes grew wide. She wasn't nearly as good at lying on the spot as I was.

"Can't you see that she has to pee?" I asked with a snarl, which was usual for the way I talked to the man who kidnapped us and impregnated Nessie.

I pretended to talk to Nessie like he wasn't in the room anymore. "Some people, you know? I mean, I thought the scientists were dumb…" My eyes twinkled as I saw Nauhel starting to get angry at me. "but hybrid boys are truly on a whole other scale."

Nauhel, like I predicted, forgot about why Nessie was out of bed and instead focused on me. "What did you just call me?" He paused and his expression changed to one of superiority. "And don't forget who's keeping you alive."

"I said you were stupid." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, seriously? Could you get any dumber?" I laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that too hard to understand. Do you need me to spell it out for you or will that just confuse you more?"

By now, he looked like he was about to snap. He took a vampire step towards me and was inches from my face in one stride. Perfect. "I am not stupid." Nauhel seethed and I couldn't hold back my giggle.

"Really?" I asked as I put the second part of my plan into action. "Then why are you about to be unconscious?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked just as I grabbed the back of his head and smashed it into the side of the wall. His eyes glinted with anger as he recovered and took another step towards me.

Now, over the past month, I got beat up from his aunt on a regular basis so I didn't like the thought of fighting a vampire again but Huilen a full vampire. Nauhel, on the other hand, was only half. And judging by the way he reacted, he had a very weak human half.

"You'll pay for that!" He declared as he tried to lunge at me. Instead, I sidestepped him and opened my wings up a little bit to give myself an advantage.

"I doubt that." I replied and started throwing random things at him. That only made him angrier and made me laugh harder. I know I shouldn't be laughing at a time like this but his face was priceless.

"Gonna let a girl beat you?" I taunted as he closed the distance between us again. "And a human no less!" I said with fake glee. "Whatever will the other kiddies at school think?"

"I'm gonna make you wish you were never born!" He said and I faked a yawn.

"Seriously? Is that the _best_ you've got?" I asked and pretended to be bored with this now. "No 'I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do' or 'you'll wish you had never messed with me'? Oh, and here I thought that you were a vampire. Guess I was mistaken."

Nauhel let out a growl and attacked again. This time, he hit me head on and my back slammed into the bed. I tumbled over it like an acrobat and was standing next to Nessie near the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open and a familiar voice shouted, "What do you think you're doing?"

In that second, my heart plummeted to my stomach and I knew our patchwork plan was falling apart: Huilen was back.


	15. Found

Chapter 15

Fang's POV

We followed Jacob the whole way there, flying above his wolf form until we were on the outskirts of Port Angeles. I FELT deep fear coming from Max and called down to Jacob to hurry up and help find them. He is currently sniffing out the area in hopes of finding Nessie's scent.

Suddenly, he let out a howl and darted further into the woods. The Flock followed behind as fast as we could, but flying through dense trees isn't as easy as it sounds. In a minute's time, we came upon a small hut that contained maybe two or three rooms. It was incredibly small compared to the Cullen mansion but I guess was considered huge as far as huts in the middle of the woods are concerned.

_Angel, tell Jacob that we need a plan and can't just attack whoever has them captive. _I thought and hoped that the avian mind reader was listening to me at that particular moment.

When I saw that Jacob wolf hadn't stopped, I sent the message again. Angel replied with an irritated sigh. _He says that he can't wait any longer. We're supposed to either help him or stay out of the way. _

_Great. _I replied sarcastically. _Tell the rest of the Flock to land…its time to get back our leader. _

We landed quietly and Jacob wolf nodded towards the hut. His eyes were desperate and I could tell that the imprinting thing was kicking in. I could barely make out voices inside the hut and my heart soared when I heard Max's voice giving a smart-alecky reply. Whoever she was arguing with was talking too quiet for us to hear.

"Lets go." I whispered and the Flock crouched behind me. It felt weird to have them listening to me when Max was the only one who could ever make them fall in line.

Before we could go any farther though, a female vampire entered the hut. She must have been too preoccupied with whatever was happening inside to notice that we were only a few feet away. Jacob let out a growl and I cocked an eyebrow.

_Jake knows the vamp. _Angel replied in my head. _Apparently, she's the aunt of the male hybrid that saved Nessie's life when the Volturi were set against destroying her because they didn't know anything about human-vampire children. Nessie is the only female hybrid that isn't his sister…_

She let the thought end there but I could see what was in between the lines. I wasn't an idiot after all. Jacob looked like he was ready to tear the place down and after that dangling thought I couldn't blame him. If someone wanted to take Max away from me and claim her as his own, I would more than just rip out his intestines.

With a final barking command, Jacob busted down the wall separating him from his imprint. Now me, I'm more of a 'use the door that is already provided for you' kind of guy, but whatever's easiest right? The Flock followed behind and between the five of us managed to restrain the male vampire. His eyes were brown instead of golden so I assumed he was Nauhel.

Jacob was tearing apart Huilen while Max and Nessie were hidden in the kitchen, one of them sobbing uncontrollably. Iggy pulled out his lighter and went outside to start the Burning Fire. From what Angel gathered from the Cullens' minds, this was the only way to destroy a vampire. Having a werewolf rip them to shreds was helpful too.

Once Huilen was nothing but a pile of ashes, Jacob motioned for us to bring him Nauhel. Angel disappeared into the kitchen so me, Nudge, Iggy, and the Gasman had to each carry an arm or a leg. He was squirming like crazy.

"Put me down at once! Renesme will be upset that you've done this!" Nauhel threatened and Jacob wolf tensed for a minute. That fact had thrown him off balance. Jake couldn't do anything that might possibly upset his imprint.

Angel and Max came out of the kitchen just then, Angel with a phone to her ear. Wait, how did she get my phone? I panicked slightly when I felt that my back pocket was indeed empty.

"I took it when you were helping restrain Nauhel." Angel answered my thoughts with an eye roll. That little pocket picker! I knew Iggy shouldn't have taught her how to do that.

"Hold on, Edward." Angel muttered into the phone. She turned back to the Flock and Jacob who had Nauhel suspended in the middle of the doorway because we weren't sure what to do. "He says that he wants to hear Nauhel's reasons…since he is a family friend and all."

"So we're just supposed to keep him here?" I asked in disbelief. Seeing Max's bruises and her twisted ankle only fueled my fire; I wanted this man to pay for what he'd done to my Max.

Max saw me staring and smiled tentatively. Had it really been a whole month since I'd seen her? It felt like a lifetime. I gave her a half smile that I knew she couldn't resist and totally forgot about the rest of the people in the room.

"…and he says that if we can transport him back to the Cullen's house then Carlisle and Emmett will already have a holding cell of sorts ready when we get there." Angel continued to explain as she hung up the phone and handed it back to me.

Jacob nodded reluctantly even though I knew that he wanted to rip this man to shreds. "We'll have to each carry a few limbs or else he'll be too strong for any of us to restrain while traveling." Jake said with a squeamish face.

Nudge looked like she was about to puke at the idea but everyone else seemed to not be that bothered. That's what happens when you grow up in a cage next to disfigured mutants or have ever seen a Brain-on-a-Stick in person.

"But first," Jacob said with a smile, "where is my Nessie?"

Max and Angel's faces instantly drained of all color the second he mentioned Nessie. Oh no, that's definitely _not_ a good sign.


	16. Surprised

Chapter 16

Jacob's POV

"What's wrong?" I asked once I had phased back to human. Max and Angel just shook their heads. This was getting frustrating. I needed my imprint, especially after a whole month without her. Why wouldn't they let me see her?

"Nessie doesn't want you to see her. " Angel said quietly. This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room. Even hybrid-boy was shocked.

"She doesn't want. To see me?" I asked through ragged breaths. My head was starting to get dizzy as I thought of the possibility that my imprint wasn't choosing me. I had always told her she had that option but I never expected her to take it. We were made for each other.

Angel glanced at Max, her eyes wide. "Sh…she is scared." Of me? I thought to the mind reader, too afraid to admit it out loud. Angel shook her head causing her blonde curls to whip her in the face.

"Nessie thinks you won't accept her." Max admitted, not meeting my eyes. "She's not the same person that she was a month ago and it's a lot to take in. She thinks you'll despise her because of Nauhel."

At that, Nauhel grinned. I snapped and grabbed him by his throat. "What did you do to her???"

Nauhel, the man who I now assume has a death wish, started laughing. "Calm down, old sport. Are all werewolves this hostile or are you a special exception?"

I knew he was just trying to bait me so I didn't reply.

Instead, I released his neck and started thinking of all the things that he could have done to make Nessie think I'd hate her. He was venomous after all, so what if he bit my Nessie and she's now a full vampire. That would be tragic for Ness to loose her beautiful blushes and her enchanting eyes but I could accept being in love with a vampire. Strange, considering that was the reason I hated Edward for turning Bella and taking away the human I thought I loved.

I looked at Angel for confirmation but she just shook her head, her eyes sad with tears.

'Oh, god. He raped her didn't he?' I thought in disgust. If that filthy thing laid one hand on my Nessie I was going to kill him, regardless of what Edward said.

I looked intently at Angel and asked, "Did he…?" but I couldn't finish the sentence because my imagination started taking over. Nessie with him on top of her, her muffled cries and protests unheard by anyone but Max and Huilen. His eyes gleaming from her fear as he took it one step further and started undoing her buttons…

"Nessie, please come out here." Angel cried, tears spilling over. "I can't be the go between for you two anymore because it hurts me to hear these kinds of thoughts." I instantly felt guilty for accidentally letting her hear my worst fears but can't deny that I was happy when Renesme complied and came out of the kitchen.

I saw her face and instantly everything was okay. Everyone gasped, but I paid them no attention and kept my eyes locked on hers even though she refused to look me in the eyes. I walked the few remaining feet and kissed her cheek. Her eyes met mine and I could see that there were tears in them.

"Shh…its okay, Ness. I promise. I'm here, he can't hurt you anymore." I said and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. That's when I felt it. The very large, very obvious pregnancy bump.

My eyes flashed with anger and I let out a growl. "He did this to you." I stated even though I originally meant it as a question. My Nessie nodded, too scared of my reaction to say anything. I never wanted her to be afraid of me.

I whispered the rest, taken aback by her terrified expression. "Did he…touch you?" I asked even though it was obvious that he had. She shook her head and I was grateful yet startled. That wasn't the reaction I was looking for.

"Huilen injected her with the stuff in a needle." Max said, glancing at the not yet teenagers in the room even though they probably already knew what she was talking about.

For the first time since I'd seen her again, Renesme spoke up. "Please don't hate me, my Jacob." She whispered into my chest.

I tilted her chin up with my oversized hand and forced her to look me in the eyes. "I could never hate you, Ness." She didn't look convinced though, so I continued. "You are the reason for living, Ness and I wouldn't care if you had horns sticking out of your head or even if you wanted to kill me. I love you Renesme Cullen and nothing will change that."

I gestured to her stomach which looked like she was about seven months along and bent down to kiss it. "Especially if it wasn't your fault." I added and looked up at her over her stomach when I felt water hitting my hair. She had started crying. Crap, this isn't how this was supposed to go.

"Ness, what's wrong?" I asked, willing to do anything she asked of me. I stood back up and wrapped my arms back around her waist; good thing I have long arms.

"I-I don't de-serve you Jake." She said with a raspy sob.

"Don't say that Nessie." I said urgently, almost pleading. "Please don't ever say that."

I heard a distinct cough and looked around to see who had cleared their throat. It was Max. Typical.

"Sorry to break up your little love fest 'cause I know how much you guys need this, but we have a psycho vampire to get back to Forks." Max said as she leaned in and kicked him in the gut. "Oops." She commented, clearly not sorry. But her captor seemed to have it coming and I wasn't going to scold her for adding a little injury to the man who impregnated my fiancé.

I went outside and shifted back to wolf so I could tear Nauhel apart for the journey home. I planned on carrying Nessie on my back since she didn't look capable of running home. I looked at her once all of the body pieces had been divided.

Fang got the head; Iggy the torso; Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy all got either a leg or an arm; and I got the last arm in my mouth. Angel said she didn't think Max would be okay with carrying the arm of her kidnapper and I sure as hell wasn't going to let Nessie carry anything.

I took off running and the Flock took to the sky. The only thing stopping me from going at a dead sprint was the fact that Nessie and her…baby were on my back. This could take some getting used to.


	17. Blurry Baby

Chapter 17

Angel's POV

The flight back to the Cullen's was tense. Everyone's thoughts were centered around Nessie being pregnant. Gazzy didn't understand how that could have happened and way beyond confused. (Max has been trying to shelter us from anything else that could possibly scar us so she has yet to give us "The Talk". Not like I need it anyways because I've been hearing about it for years in people's minds.)

Everyone else seemed to understand and were trying not to think that the man whose body parts we were carrying did that to someone as sweet as Nessie.

Its hard to see her as the little girl that she actually is when she looks seventeen even though Nessie is technically only six years old in birth years (she'd be completely grown in a few months). I mean, I knew girls at the high school who were freshmen and having babies, but somehow Nessie doesn't seem like those girls.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts (and everyone else's) when Jacob barks to inform us that we're here. Max makes a sharp turn, clearly a little rusty from not getting much flying time while she was kidnapped, and almost hit a tree before Fang glided down and moved her out of the way. That's when Max realized the person's feelings that she'd been FEELING were Fang's. I must say that for someone as smart as Max, she sure is slow.

Jacob set Nessie down, spit Nauhel's arm out of his mouth, and went behind a tree to phase. Then the weirdest thing happened (and I'm allowed to say that because when you live at the School for most of your life, you see some pretty weird things). The hand started moving. First it lifted itself up on the fingertips, then it started dragging the elbow along until it was moving at a steady pace. Ewww.

The Cullens appeared at about the same time that Nessie shrieked. The arm had found its way to her and was gripping around her swollen ankle. Jacob was back too when he heard her scream, pulling his sweatpants over his boxers as he was walking out of the forest.

"Emmett, Jasper," Edward said addressing his vampire brothers. "Take Nauhel to his cell before I kill him without an explanation." His thoughts matched his threat and I could see Bella trying to restrain him from attacking. The boys did as they were told and collected Nauhel's body pieces from us and slowly put the vampire back together.

"Nessie, why don't you go with Carlisle so he can monitor your condition." Edward said with a broken, silent sob. If he had been human, his eyes would be gushing tears over seeing his little girl pregnant.

Rosalie and Bella were instantly at Nessie's side, with Jacob carrying most of her weight from behind. Carlisle led the front of their bodyguard parade and judging by the scorn on Renesme's face, I could tell that being the President wouldn't be a good career.

"If you'll excuse me," Edward said and followed after Jasper and Emmett's trail. "I have a vampire to question." _and kill._ He added in his mind but I didn't want to think about that part.

"Well, why don't I fix you all something to eat. You must be tired from the flight…." Esme paused and glanced at our ruined clothing. "and fight." She added. "Anything in particular that you guys want?" She asked and I could see Gazzy's mouth watering.

"I'll give you a hand with that." Iggy commented and followed Esme's almost silent footsteps. Gazzy and Nudge followed him, probably hoping to get a sample of the meal before it was even in the oven.

Max and Fang had snuck off while everyone was distracted, but I knew that Fang just wanted to know what happened while she was kidnapped. His thoughts the entire way home had been nothing but 'if he touched one hair on her head, so help me…' and so on and so forth. Really, I thought it was cute the way he was super protective of her like that.

That just left me and Alice alone on the back porch. Not that I didn't love Alice, I did and aside from Max and Nudge I loved her the best, but I was startled that she hadn't followed Nessie to find out about the baby. It seemed like everyone around here loved kids because they couldn't have any. I raised one eyebrow and she sighed.

"I can't see the baby and its giving me a headache." Alice admitted, frustrated.

In her mind, I saw a picture of Bella swollen and pregnant on a couch while Alice slept next to Seth on the floor. He seemed to be blocking the painful headache for Alice's visions.

I started whimpering when I saw Seth in her head though. I was his imprint after all and seeing him so close to someone that wasn't me.

Alice caught my expression and laughed. "Don't worry. Your wolf will be arriving in about a minute. He started from La Push as soon as Jacob gave him the all clear."

"How can you see the wolves?" I asked, truly curious.

"I've adapted my visions to look for blank spots, that'd be the wolves, and I can see Nessie fairly well when she's not surrounded by wolves." Alice explained. "I just saw you disappear in a few minutes so I know that your wolf is on his way."

"Wait. Can't you just use a wolf as a shield again towards this baby?" I asked, trying to understand why she was having a headache now when Jacob had been right next to Nessie.

"The baby, in Jacob's mind, doesn't belong to him so he isn't thinking about its' future. Its kind of hard to explain correctly but everything and everyone are connected." Alice commented while rubbing her temple in a very human gesture. "Seth and Jacob worked as blockers for Bella's pregnancy because they were set on killing Nessie so of course they tied themselves to her future."

"The wolves wanted to kill sweet little Renesme?" I asked in disbelief. Who would want to harm Nessie?

I saw an image of Bella like before, but this time her whole body was extremely pale and her pregnant skin was pulled tight around her. Even though this image still showed her pregnant, it didn't have the happy glow that the last one did. She really and truly looked like death.

"Ouch." I whispered and Alice nodded sympathetically.

"Renesme was an unknown threat that was literally killing Bella. The wolves took an oath to protect humans and even though this was what Bella was choosing, she was still technically human." Alice stated as if she were simply talking about the weather. Apparently, this was old news around here. "That's how the packs split up. At the last second, Jacob decided that he loved Bella more than his loyalties to the pack. Leah and Seth followed soon after and it wasn't long before Embry joined too."

Alice looked up suddenly and her eyes twinkled. "Thank you Seth!" She commented and went to hug him. The werewolf squirmed under her grip but didn't look like he was about to barf like most werewolves would have. "Ooh, and thank you Angel!" She said and gave me a death hug like the one she just gave my Seth.

"Umm…for what?" Seth and I asked at the same time. Alice released me and I half flew, half ran to my imprinter. I missed my big brother.

"Well Angel for wanting to be connected to the baby…" Her eyes were twinkling like they usually were. "and Seth for being connected to Angel."

"Does this mean you have your sight back?" I asked and Alice only nodded happily.

"Are you talking about Ness's baby?" Seth asked. "Because Jake would kill me if I chose it over him."

"Don't worry, Sethy." I said with a giggle. "You aren't choosing the baby, you're choosing me. And Jake would understand that you're siding with your imprint, won't he?"

Seth nodded reluctantly and I just beamed at him. They didn't understand why the baby was so important to us, but that's probably just because they didn't have a conversation with her.

* * *

**Okay, so now you know what gender the baby has. And you know that Angel can talk to it in her mind like Edward could for Nessie. What will happen to the baby? Who will keep it? Will it be dangerous? Will the Volturi find out and come back? If you would like input on any of these questions before I start writing the next chapter, just review. :)**


	18. Bonding & Visions

**As requested, here's a little Fax reunion :) takes place during Chapter 17**

* * *

Chapter 18

Max's POV

As soon as we landed at the Cullen's house, the vampires appeared out of the house. Apparently they could hear us coming.

"Emmett, Jasper," Edward said, taking charge and addressing his vampire brothers. "Take Nauhel to his cell before I kill him without an explanation." The boys did as they were told and collected Nauhel's body pieces from the Flock/Jacob and slowly put the vampire back together.

"Nessie, why don't you go with Carlisle so he can monitor your condition." Edward said with a broken, silent sob. If he had been human, his eyes would be gushing tears over seeing his little girl pregnant.

Rosalie and Bella were instantly at Nessie's side, with Jacob carrying most of her weight from behind. Carlisle led the front of their bodyguard parade and Renesme looked like she hated the extra attention.

"Come with me." Fang whispered, grabbing my hand and leading me around the side of the house. I wanted to find out what my Flock were doing but he was insistent so I fell in line behind him.

"What do you want Fang?" I asked when he stopped walking and turned to face me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"You." He whispered and crushed his lips against mine. For a moment I forgot to breath and stepped backwards dizzy a bit. Fang didn't break away though, he continued to massage my lips with his own until finally I started to respond.

"Fang…" I said against his lips. "We…can't…do this." Even as I said the words, I moved closer to him and twisted my fingers in his slightly long black hair.

Fang pulled back so our foreheads were touching. I dropped my hands to around his neck to pull him that little bit closer. I know I'm a hypocrite for always running away and saying that we shouldn't be together, but the truth is that I can't resist Fang. I crave him like I crave my mom's chocolate chip cookies after a long flight.

"I've missed you." Fang said quietly and leant in to kiss me again. This time I was ready and responded much faster, letting my natural instinct take over and not using my stupid, problem-causing brain.

"I missed you too." I admitted when we pulled apart again. "This was the longest separation ever. Worse than when the Flock split and the girls went to Europe without you guys."

"Nau-that leech didn't hurt you, did he?" Fang asked, anger already in his dark eyes, so I kissed his lips chastely.

"I fought him a couple times, Huilen more than him, but he didn't hurt me…" I said, hoping he'd get the double meaning and not make me explain it to him.

"Good." was his only comment. He started kissing down my neck when I pulled back.

"Fang, we really need to get back to the Flock. Besides," I said reluctantly. "I want to see how Nessie is holding up. I know Jake probably won't take it that well considering he has to see an ultra-sound of a baby that isn't his."

"You're right." Fang said with a sigh. I don't know what's gotten into him but he's seemed more emotional lately; he's definitely a lot more open since coming to the Cullen's.

We walked though the backyard, past Alice, Angel, and, surprisingly, Seth to get to the house. I could smell the ribs and baked potatoes that Esme and Iggy were cooking up in the kitchen. I spotted Nudge's brown tangles and Gazzy's blonde hair from around the corner, each sitting on stools and cutting up orange vegetables, carrots probably.

"They're upstairs, loves." Esme commented from the kitchen. I guess she heard us come in. Stupid vampire hearing. "Unless you want to help with dinner…"

My three Flock members in the kitchen started cracking up. "You guys had better shut up or I'll cook you all dinner for the next two weeks!" I threatened and suddenly the laughing in the kitchen turned into frightened silence. Now it was my turn to chuckle.

Fang and I walked up the steps quickly, turning it into a race. I won, of course. We entered Carlisle's study warily, not sure what to expect. Neither of us had ever seen an ultrasound but anything we could have expected was shut down when we spotted what was going on.

Nessie was sitting in a chair, a blood IV dripping in her arm and a heart monitor attached to her chest. Carlisle was checking the heart monitor every few seconds while Bella, Rosalie, and Jacob were hovering behind Nessie.

"I just don't see how this is doing Nessie any good." Jacob said to Carlisle with a huff. "Couldn't you be doing something more to help her?"

"Hey, Max!" Nessie said, looking grateful for the distraction. She still wasn't really allowed to be near Fang because of the whole 'spazing out and biting Fang' thing when we first showed up at the Cullen's house. I've forgiven her completely, but I guess she's still in the doghouse with a few of her relatives because she didn't even acknowledge him.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, eyeing the bag of blood.

"Oh, well since blood seemed to help my mom when she was pregnant with me, they figured this would be a good way to get it into my system. I don't know why I can't just get a pint of antelope, but whatever." She sounded a little ticked but I guess that's to be expected when your whole life has changed.

"Did they already do the ultrasound?" I asked, curious about the baby's condition.

"Well, since most needles and stuff don't work on me, they figured that the machine wouldn't work for that either." Nessie admitted. "Not that I care." She added, glancing at Jacob's stone cold face. I take it he doesn't want to help raise the kid.

"Of course you do." Angel commented from behind me and Fang. Seth was carrying her piggyback style and Alice was at their heels. "You just don't want to admit to Jacob that you already love her."

"Her?" Bella asked in disbelief. "Is it really a girl?"

"I wouldn't lie, would I?" Angel asked, sliding off Seth's back and taking the empty chair next to Renesme's. "Besides, its only natural for the mother to become attached when she can feel the baby growing inside of her."

Angel placed her hand on Nessie's stomach and started whispering to it. "You didn't mean to cause all this trouble, did you?…" Angel giggled. "No, I don't think that's a stupid idea. I'll tell them."

"What does she want?" Rosalie asked, excited that the baby was able to communicate with someone. The woman craved motherhood more than an addict needs a fix.

"She wants Jacob to talk again. She says his voice soothes her." Angel explained, a twinkle in her eyes. I guess she liked the idea of the baby bonding with her future father/step dad?/whatever Jake would be to her.

"I don't see why." Jake commented, but complied nonetheless. He placed Angel on his lap so he could sit next to Nessie, and started talking to her. By her I mean Renesme, I still don't think Jake is comfortable with the idea that Nessie has someone else's child in her stomach (even if it wasn't her fault).

"I missed you." Jacob said and kissed her hand. She turned a bright pink and all the vampires in the room chuckled. I guess having human characteristics is funny. Weirdos.

"You're so cute when you do that, Ness." He commented as Nessie's blush darkened. Angel's hand, still on Renesme's stomach, jolted backwards a few centimeters.

"Oh my gosh! She just kicked!" Rosalie exclaimed, hovering just behind Angel.

"I told you she liked Jacob." Angel said smugly.

"None of that will matter in a month." Alice spoke up bleakly.

All of our heads swiveled to see her. Her eyes were glazed over and it looked like she was in the middle of a vision. When her eyes went back to their normal golden color, she gasped.

"What did you see?" Carlisle asked in a very professional doctor-y voice.

"They're coming to collect the baby." Alice muttered in a monotone voice. "They won't take no for an answer. This is gonna be a fight…"

"Who's coming?" Fang asked, the only one who didn't even have a clue as to who she was talking about.

"The Volturi." Everyone else replied, sounding very ominous.


	19. And Then There Was Baby

Chapter 19

Jacob's POV

The next two weeks passed by in a blur. Nessie grew bigger and yesterday Carlisle announced that she was officially nine months along. That was both happy and sad news. That meant we were possibly days away from the little girl's birth (Nessie still hasn't decided on a name despite the fact that all the females were more than eager to help her.) and only two short weeks away from the Volturi visit.

Carlisle had tried to contact vampires who had stood witness at the last 'meeting' but few wanted to tempt the Volturi twice. In the end, only Kate, Tanya, and Zafrina could make it and would be here in a few days; though Tanya swears that Eleazar and Carmen were going to try and make it in time.

The only wolves willing to fight were those in my pack so that made our total twelve vamps, four wolves, and six birdkids (despite our protests that they shouldn't get involved). Still, our odds weren't good.

Nauhel had been dealt with. Once he answered all of Edward's questions of course. He claimed that the Volturi and his aunt tricked him into kidnapping Renesme and that taking Max was a liability thing. He didn't want to create a child with my Nessie, but Aro threatened the Cullens, Nessie, and his family's lives. Now it won't matter what the Volturi were planning on doing to him or his aunt because they're both a part of the earth now.

"Ja-cob!" My Nessie yelled and I was instantly at her side. She had been in Carlisle's study (now turned in to the maternity ward) for the past two days.

"Its time!" She yelled even though I was right next to her. I held her hand comfortingly, for once upset that my skin is so hot because she was already breaking into a sweat and she hadn't even started pushing yet. (Alice had predicted that the baby wouldn't claw its way out like Nessie had done, so she was having a typical human pregnancy.)

Edward and Bella were the only Cullens other than Carlisle that were in the room, though the rest could hear everything that was going on regardless, and Max was holding Nessie's other hand. That had been Renesme's idea; she wanted to have Max by her side, especially after everything the girls had been through together.

"Come on, baby push!" I said, two hours later when Nessie's labor still hadn't ended.

"I am pushing!!!" She screeched, tightening her death grip on both Max's and my hand.

"Its okay, Ness. You're doing fine." Carlisle said reassuringly. "The baby's head is crowning now, so you're going to have to give it one big push, okay?"

My Nessie nodded, sweat literally dripping down the side of her face. And like that, it was over. The baby came out easily and Ness rested her head against the pillow. Bella and Edward started smoothing her hair and placing their hands on her forehead to cool her down. Max pulled her hand out of Nessie's and started shaking it out in pain.

"Jake, come look at her." Carlisle commented, marveled.

I kissed my Ness's forehead and hesitantly walked over to where Carlisle was cleaning up my unofficial daughter. Since Renesme's return, I've had several talks with various people (Max, Edward, Angel, Bella, and Nessie being the most threatening/convincing) about how since I am in Nessie's life and the baby is in hers, that unless I want to throw away everything I had with Ness and fight my imprint, than I needed to accept this responsibility.

I gasped when I took in the sight of this newborn. She was beautiful. Other than slightly darker skin, she looked like an exact replica of my Nessie. The girl had small brown-golden hair that was matted against her tiny forehead instead of in ringlets like Renesme's usually was. I'm glad that she had Bella's brown eyes instead of vampire red ones like I had been dreaming about for the past two weeks.

"She's beautiful." I said in a whisper, stroking her cheek with one of my dark fingers. She started giggling and I gasped. That was an advanced gesture for someone only minutes old.

"That's adorable." Max commented. I hadn't even heard her approaching so I was taken aback when she started talking. "But aren't babies not supposed to do that yet?" She asked, voicing my concerns.

"Not necessarily." Edward admitted. "But this baby is going to be special so we are going to have to take this one day at a time."

"Ca-can I see her?" Nessie asked, trying to sit her head up to see us the baby. I looked at Edward for approval and he nodded so I pried the baby out of Carlisle's arms and carried her to my Ness. She took her gratefully, a huge smile on her face.

"I know the perfect name for her." Nessie said, gazing into her daughter's eyes that were identical to her own.

"What is it, sweetie?" I asked, although everyone else's eyes showed the same curiosity.

"Promise you guys won't laugh." Nessie said, her expression completely serious. "It's a combination of two of the most important people in my life now; my mother's and my best friend Max's. Its short and sweet and a little bit spunky."

Max gasped, clearly not expecting to be Nessie's best friend despite what they've been through; and definitely not expecting Ness to name her kid after her. Bella on the other hand was ecstatic.

"Oh Renesme, I love it." Edward commented. Stupid mind reader getting the answer before me. "Rebecca is her full name." Edward commented, glancing at me. "After your sister, Jake."

Nessie bent down and kissed the top of the baby's head. "I love you, Bex."

* * *

**There you have it, folks! Rebecca "Bex" Cullen. Not sure if I'll give her a middle name or not. Let me know what you think. I thought it was cute :)**


	20. Preparations

Chapter Twenty

Nessie's POV

Its been two weeks since Bex's birth and today emotions are on high. Everyone knows that the attack is tomorrow so my family is trying to strategize with our few visiting vampires, the pack, and, of course, the Flock. Max is persistent that they'll be able to handle themselves against the Volturi guards but others in the house aren't as optimistic. Who knows how many casualties we'll have?

Currently, I'm sitting in my room at the main house brushing Bex's hair. (I moved here even though there are so many extra guests because Bex can't sleep without the sound of Jake's heartbeat and Edward and Bella refuse to let my fiancé stay at the cottage where my dad can hear our thoughts.) Though Jacob would never admit it, he loves being a daddy, even if the child isn't technically his. Besides, she's too much like me for him to deny that she's adorable. He secretly loves that he's Bex's favorite person.

"Momma, that hurts." Bex spoke up as I ran the brush through a mass of tangles.

"Sorry, sweetie." I replied and loosened my grip on the hairbrush.

Bex was advanced like I had been as a child, though she seemed to be progressing a little bit faster than I had. She looked like she was about nine months old but had the vocabulary of a six year old. This could cause some 'unpredictable dangers' to the vampire community (or so the Volturi would claim) but since they were already looking for a fight, I didn't find this as that big of a problem.

A knock on the door startled me out of my thoughts and Bex giggled when Alice and Nudge poked their heads around the door. They had infinite fun playing dress up with Bex and she had about twice as much fun as they did.

"Shouldn't you guys be strategizing?" I asked, when they took my little girl from me and laid out five or six pink outfits for her on my bed.

"Nah, Jasper, the wolves, and Emmett are doing hard core fighting techniques that they say the girls shouldn't be learning no matter what the circumstances." Alice said, picking up an extremely ruffly pink and white skirt and holding it up to Nudge and Bex for approval. They both nodded happily.

"Max, Iggy, and Fang said they were going to learn the moves too, which I think is useful because they think they're getting rusty from not having to fight any Erasers or anything in a long time. Although, Max did have some pretty tough hand to hand against Huilen." Nudge rambled as she took off Bex's pj's and Alice put on the chosen skirt. "But I'm not sure if Edward approved their idea or not."

"He did." Alice commented, shifting through three nearly identical pink shirts to find one for Bex to wear. "They just disappeared from my 'sight' so I know they're with the wolves."

"I'm gonna go see what Zafrina is doing. I haven't really gotten much time to talk to her since she arrived yesterday. She isn't with the fighters right now, is she?" I asked, turning to Alice for confirmation.

"No, I can see her talking to you in forty-five seconds." She said in a bored tone before frowning at one of the shirts.

I kissed Bex's forehead and sped down the steps. Zafrina was in the living room surrounded by Angel, Rosalie, Bella, Kate, Tanya, and Esme. The Gasman was sulking in the corner, probably from being stuck with all the girls.

Eleazar and Carmen arrived yesterday morning and he was outside with the main fighters while she was watching them and I was a little pleased that she wasn't in here with us. She just kept giving me weird glances yesterday and it was giving me the creeps. Its strange, considering how she was one of the first people to accept my half-breedness during the last Volturi visit.

"Oh, Nessie. So good to see you!" Zafrina exclaimed, sending me an image with her power of me half asleep next to Bex's crib. "Does the child wear you out, young one?"

"Not really." I admitted, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "At the night, one of my family members usually takes Bex if she's fussy. She normally sleeps through the night like I did though."

"Nessie was an impatient child though." My mother admitted, her eyes gleaming with an old memory. "She wanted everything when she wanted it. Oh, and you can't even imagine the fits she threw when she wanted 'her Jacob.'"

The girls laughed, even Angel-although I assume that's because she was reading Bella's mind to get a few images of me as a child. My suspicions were confirmed when Angel started asking questions.

"What did it feel like to get imprinted on as a baby?" She asked, probably thinking about the moment that Seth looked at her and her life changed. Even though she was ten and I was technically only six and a half, she seemed to understand more about imprinting than I did.

"I mean, it just was like this feeling of knowing that I was safe with Jake and that no one could hurt me if he was around." I said lamely, though I felt a lot stronger about it now. "I was barely days old and suddenly, I met my 'big brother' for the first time and it all changed."

"That's so sweet, Ness. I never thought of it like that." Rosalie said, startling us all. "What?" She asked defensively.

"I happen to love Nessie more than I despise the mutt for trying to take her away from us." She said, but at the same time I could see that wasn't true. She just missed my 'childhood' days were I was a toddler who adored her. it's a shame she'll never be an actual mother; the feeling is one that can't be erased.

I tried to stifle my yawn but everyone had super hearing so before I knew what was happening, Bella and Rosalie had carried me upstairs and laid me in bed. Alice and Nudge had finished dressing Bex and the three of them followed Rose and my mom out of the room. I guess a little shut eye wouldn't hurt...

**Sorry, but it was sort of a filler chapter because the fight scene is next and I wanted to skip the time and catch up with who was doing what and who was there and so forth. Plus I wanted to show how much Bex had grown and that she's not following Nessie's growth spurts. Review if you want someone to for sure not die in the battle...or else I might just kill them all lol **


	21. Let the Fight Begin

Chapter Twenty-One

Max's POV

"Okay guys," I said, addressing my Flock. "Alice said that we aren't to start fighting until the Volturi makes the first move." "We're like secret weapons, right Max?" Gazzy asked and I nodded. Secret weapons that smell appetizing to our enemy.

"The Volturi won't be expecting to see us so hopefully we'll catch them off guard long enough for the Cullens and wolves to get the upper leg." I said, glancing at the battlefield below us.

We were hidden in the trees behind where the wolves were positioned to mask our scent a little bit (mostly human but smelling like bird). The vampires were up in front, with Nessie and Bex at the back of their line, heavily guarded.

"I don't see why we can't just be in the front with everybody else." Iggy grumbled and I shot him a look that was wasted on him. We've been over this plan a million times in the last twenty-four hours.

"We don't want to add pressure to the Cullens. If the Volturi decide not to fight like they did when Renesme was born, then we would have given them another reason to provoke the Cullens." I said matter-of-factly.

"Shh…its almost time." Fang whispered from my right hand side and I motioned for the rest of the Flock to be quiet as well.

Suddenly, I could see figures walking through the tree line on the far side of the baseball field that Alice had positioned us at. There were too many of them for me to count but I could pick out the main three by their papery looking skin. There were two females that looked just about as old and I frowned. Alice hadn't been sure that the wives would come or not.

There were thirty-two Volturi guard, including the seven that were more of a threat than the others, plus Aro, Caius, Marcus, (the rulers) Sulpicia, and Athenodora (the wives). That left the running total at thirty-seven.

On our side we had four wolves (Jake, Seth, Leah, Embry), six birdkids, thirteen vampires, with Nessie and Bex on the sidelines if at all possible. Twenty-three fighters wasn't exactly a fair match.

"Good to see you again Carlisle." The center vampire, Aro by the way the tall female vampire behind him was standing protectively, said kindly. That must be Renata, the physical shield..

Edward had given us a description of all of the guard members, their powers, and even a few hidden secrets about them so that we would all be prepared.

I spotted a young looking pair in the center of the guard and sighed. Jane and Alec were by far the most powerful members, and definitely the ones to look out for in the fight. Bella can shield us mentally but only if we stay in range. I wouldn't want to chance that against Jane's burning illusions or Alec's ability to cut off all of your senses.

Marcus was looking around the field, pointing out to Chelsea which of us had weaker bonds than others did. He can sense bonds while she can manipulate them. I've heard that she can convince whole Covens to dismantle and tear each other apart without the Volturi having to even lift a finger.

Heidi, Demitri, and Felix were each leading a group of about five guard members as they were some of the strongest fighters. Though Demitri was also a tracker, that didn't seem to be that relevant seeing as we were all standing right in front of them.

"Its been six years, Aro," Emmett practically growled. "you can cut the act. We haven't forgotten your last visit."

"Em, quiet please," Carlisle said, going through the script we'd come up with. "Excuse my son, he has a temper, as you recall."

Aro smiled and gestured for someone to relay all of our secrets with just the touch of his hand. When no one stepped up, he spoke up. "I merely wish to find out how this child," he gestured towards Bex who was resting on Nessie's hip, "came to be."

"You should know, Aro." Edward seethed, letting out an unplanned hiss. "You were the one who sent Nauhel here for that very reason."

"How is our young male hybrid?" Aro asked, noticing how it baited Edward. That was the cowardly Volturi way; wait until the opponent looses their cool and makes the first attack and then completely destroy them while they're emotional.

"Dead." Edward responded, more in control of himself than he had been before. "We took care of Huilen and Nauhel when we found out about what they'd done to Nessie."

"Are you suggesting that we had any part in the creation of a double hybrid?" **(AN: my name for Bex's species)** Aro asked, trying to look appalled even though Jane was smirking.

"Enough of this!" Caius exclaimed and motioned for the fighters to get ready. "It is quite clear that the Cullens are looking for a fight…might as well give it to them."

"But what about the girl?" Marcus asked. "We need to confiscate her so that she will not be a threat to anyone." He said matter-of-factly. This was how they were going to try and trick the vampires into not fighting.

"Yes, but such a shame to waste the rest of her family." Aro spoke up, his voice sounding happy again. "Edward, Bella, Renesme, Alice, Jasper, any chance I can persuade you to save yourselves from the fate of the others? Join me and you shall have power!"

Everyone stayed where they were while Nessie, with Bex still on her hip, started moving behind the wolves so that they were just under our trees. We were supposed to help protect the two of them while our stronger fighters took out the guard.

"No takers?" Aro asked, bemused. "Well then; lets start this party." With one final glance at his power 'brothers,' he yelled, "Attack!"


	22. Decisions & Deaths?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Max's POV

All Hell broke loose when he said that. Edward, Emmett, and Jasper advanced to the front of the field, each pairing up against Heidi, Demitri, or Felix. Our strongest fighters verses theirs.

The rest of the guard, minus a few that stayed back to protect the leaders and their wives, advanced upon the rest of the Cullen ensemble. That was the Flock's cue to come out of hiding.

Angel, Fang, Nudge, and I took to the skies, trying to bypass the people already fighting and take out the actual Volturi bodyguard. Iggy and Gasman were left in charge of protecting Nessie and Bex. (Though at this point, I doubt they needed to protect Renesme.)

Zafrina was blinding as many guard members as she could while the wolves started ripping them limb from limb and throwing the pieces into the ever growing body pile.

Esme and Carlisle were in charge of keeping the burn fire going and collecting up the pieces for it. They had opted out of doing the actual fighting for as long as they could manage but everyone knew that they'd eventually have to fight.

Carmen and Eleazar were working side by side to dismantle a single vampire at a time since neither of their strengths were really that good. Tanya and Rosalie copied their method and together began destroying vampires one at a time.

Alice had her eyes closed and was flittering around a tall muscled vampire, evading all of his moves with her 'sight.' Kate was hidden behind Alice and whenever the pixie stepped out of the way, she would swing her arm around and slug the guard member with her fist. That alone probably wouldn't have done much good, but the fact that she has skin that can electrocute people when they touch it sure helped.

By then, we had flown over the entire fight and were behind the bodyguards. Most of them didn't see us, and the few that did assumed that we were merely a trick of the light because they didn't advance towards us. Mistake number one.

"Jane needs to know how much her power can really hurt someone." I whispered to Angel, knowing not only would she hear me, but she would also know what I meant.

Angel stepped out of the shadows and cleared her throat while Fang, Nudge, and I went to take down anyone we could get our hands on. The leaders, the wives, Renata, Alec, and one unimportant very young looking vampire male were the only ones not already in a battle.

"You could really hurt someone." Angel said sweetly, coming right next to Jane and smiling up at her.

"What are you?" Jane asked, taking in Angel's human/bird scent. She didn't look like she wanted to eat my little girl so I let Angel continue.

"Your worst nightmare." Angel said darkly, glancing up at Bella and giving her the sign that we had rehearsed. Bella dropped her shield to where Angel was the only one out of the protection. We figured that Angel, sweet ten year old Angel, was the only one who would be able to go head to head against Jane. Why? Because she can get in people's minds and make them do what she wants.

Jane smirked, foolishly thinking that she had the advantage now that she could use her power. Mistake number two.

As soon as Jane started to inflict make believe pain inside Angel, my baby reflected it back into Jane's mind. She wasn't in control of her power anymore; Angel was. Jane's uncontrollable screams startled everyone, even Aro (who me, Fang, and Nudge were dismantling.) Mistake number three.

"That can't be." He whispered as Nudge pulled apart his arm like a jigsaw puzzle. Tearing apart vampires was a lot harder for us to do than it is for the werewolves or vampires, but its still possible. Thank you, School.

Jane's screams continued until her twin brother Alec, who had slipped by us when our trio was starting to take on the remaining bodyguards, was at her side. Though Renata's shield had been tricky to maneuver around, there were three of us and only one of her. Even her vampire mind couldn't keep up with us once we took to the air and started swooping down around her and Aro.

Alec glared at Angel, who still hadn't made Jane stop tormenting herself with her own power, and spoke harshly through his teeth. "How are you doing this to her?"

"Easy." Angel replied, not breaking eye contact with Jane as she spoke. "I'm simply reflecting her own power back into her mind." She whistled and Edward was at her side. "Take her apart before her brother has a spaz attack."

Edward nodded, not even minding that he just took orders from a ten year old, and started to grab Jane's leg. "Touch her and die." Alec threatened, coming right behind Edward and grabbing him around the neck. Like that was going to do a lot of good against a vampire…

Emmett ran over to them and yanked Alec's hair, pulling the young boy back from the strength. "You were saying?" He taunted.

The fight had pretty much ended. The burn pile was nearly all shredded and the only ones left to still be taken out were Marcus, Chelsea, Sulpicia (Aro's wife), Jane, and Alec. I wasn't sure how our people were holding up, but the fact that we took out almost the entire Volturi seemed like celebrating news to me. I wasn't even this excited when we destroyed the School.

Carlisle was talking to the remaining guard members and leaders and offering them a deal; they leave the Cullens alone for forever and quit sending people like Nauhel out here to kidnap our family and we won't destroy them all.

Sulpicia demanded death, refusing to keep living when her mate Aro was dead, so Jasper granted her wish. Apparently the young male vampire that Fang and I had destroyed only minutes earlier had been Chelsea's mate, Afton, and she too sought death.

It seemed cruel to kill them even though seconds before we had been destroying the whole lot of them; I guess it was because these women looked so fragile compared to the stronger fighters.

The second Chelsea's body had been dismantled and thrown in the fire pit, everything shifted. Jane stopped inflicting her power on Angel (even though it was only causing her the pain), Alec stopped fighting against Emmett, and Marcus looked…not happy but something close to it. I guess she had had them all under one of her relationship bonds.

"I'm free?" Marcus asked, startling us.

"Free from what?" Nudge asked, for once only saying what was really important instead of going on and on about the minor details that didn't actually have anything to do with it.

"The Volturi's hold." He explained, a tiny smile on his lips.

"Long ago," He began, and I could tell that whatever he had to say was going to be worth listening to; even Eleazar who was restraining him, seemed intrigued. "when the Volturi were just starting out, I fell in love.

"She was Aro's sister, the very beautiful and powerful Didyme. She had the ability to make everyone extremely happy and for a while the whole castle was in bliss. Aro approved of our union and was happy to see that we were so happy, or so I thought.

"It was on the eve of our wedding night and suddenly, Didyme was no where to be found. I had the guards search everywhere but was startled to find out that Aro had had her killed. He murdered his own sister just because she was making us happy instead of serious about our responsibilities.

"I never let on that I knew, but weeks past and without my consent, my pupil Chelsea had strengthened my bond towards the Volturi. I was stuck." Marcus said with a frown. "And without my sweet Didyme, life didn't seem worth it anymore."

"So that's why you always seem bored with Volturi business?" Bella asked, apparently putting the pieces together. "And why you protested against killing Renesme at the last visit? You saw how happy she made everyone and it reminded you of your mate."

"Yes." Marcus said with a small grin. "Quite a child, she was." He paused and looked at Carlisle for approval. "I request that I be allowed to return to Italy and reside as sole Volturi leader. The vampire community would benefit from having a stable leader, and I will continue to enforce the laws so as not to upset the human population."

"Indeed." Carlisle commented. "Very well. We shall be checking up on you from time to time but only as an old friend does, I trust your judgment Marcus."

"Jane? Alec? Care to accompany me back to Italy? It seems you've both been promoted." Marcus said with a laugh. It was strange to see the grumpy vampire with a smile on his face.

"Are you sure you can handle Jane by yourself?" Bella asked, eyeing the powerful girl wearily.

"Of course." Marcus responded. "Alec has become my star pupil for quite some time, even outranking Chelsea in my eyes. Unless that has changed for him, I know that Jane would never hurt anyone whom her brother was fond of."

"I still care, Master." Alec commented shyly from Emmett's grip. Apparently, Chelsea affected their personalities as well when she bonding people to the Volturi's cause.

"Splendid! Lets be on our way then." Marcus said, Jane and Alec flanking him on either side. "Carlisle, take care now. And try to keep your family out of trouble…though at this point, I can't deny that I'm looking forward to your next stunt."

The three of them disappeared into the tree line behind us and I spun around to start our victory party. After a few seconds, I noticed that no one else was happy and most of them had frowns on their beautiful faces.

"What's wrong?" I asked and they all just averted their gaze.

Only Fang was man enough to say things like they were, but when he muttered, "not all of us made it out unharmed," my heart sank.


	23. Learning Their Fates

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nudge's POV

I watched Max's startled face as she realized that our team had taken casualties. It nearly broke my heart to see her in this much pain. Suddenly, she started yelling. "Report! FLOCK REpoRT!"

Slowly, Fang, Angel, and I all said 'here' even though we were standing right next to her. I could hear Gasman's faraway voice say 'no damage' and I listened for Iggy's devilish 'fine' but the air remained silent.

Max growled. "Iggy, report in right now or I'll kick your butt here until next Tuesday!" She threatened as our whole little group (which included Emmett, Edward, Bella, Carlisle) moved towards the forest where the rest of our fighters were standing, hovering over our wounded.

I spotted Alice and Jasper whispering to Rosalie, Kate, and Zafrina. Esme was staring at the pile of ashes, her hand to her mouth. I couldn't see Tanya, Eleazer, Carmen, Iggy, Nessie, Bex or the wolves from where I was standing.

The closer we got, the sadder the faces looked. I saw Nessie clinging to Bex, both girls unharmed, yet tears running down both their faces. I glanced at Angel by my side who had started crying herself. As soon as she got in the clearing, she ran towards one of the wolves. Leah (who I only recognized because she's the only grey wolf) was lying on the ground in wolf form next to the fallen wolf, a mournful look on her face.

Eleazer was comforting Carmen, the love of his life, and glanced up at us when we finally entered the clearing. "I am so sorry." He vampire-whispered and bowed his head.

Edward and Angel let out a sharp breath when they heard everyone's thoughts. This was not good. If the mind readers were shocked, then we were in for a terrible surprise.

"Tanya is dead." Carlisle explained to everyone that isn't a mind reader and I wasn't the only one who gasped.

"But how? Aren't vampires like only allowed to officially die if they're burned? I didn't see a burn pile for the other team." I rambled, still a little in shock, but trying not to get distracted because Iggy wasn't responding.

"One of the guard members dismembered her and burned her pieces while Esme and I were collecting parts of the Volturi for the burn pile." Carlisle admitted, ashamed. If he were human, his cheeks would be a dark red in embarrasment.

We nodded briefly before Max turned her attention to our missing Flock member. I spotted him before she did, and I rushed to his side.

"Iggy?" Max called as she took in his beaten body. Tears blurred my vision as I watched the love of my life leaned up against a tree, his face bruised from the marble of a vampire's attack, and his eyes closed in a calm expression. Uh-oh.

"Iggy, baby, wake up." I mumbled, kneeling by his side. I started to try and stroke his cheek but a pair of pale hands stopped me.

I turned to see who had grabbed my hand and caught eyes with Edward. The rest of our fighting team had disappeared, probably back to the Cullen house, and only Edward, Bella (whose eyes were full of remorse), a fallen wolf (who I couldn't identify but could barely hear his breathing) with Angel at his side, and Max standing protectively behind me.

"What's wrong?" I asked hysterically. "He isn't…dead…is he?" I paused to look at Iggy again then shook my head. "No, he's not dead. I can hear his heartbeat. Its faint and low but its there. I know that he is alive. I can feel it. I'd be able to tell if he was dead. So he must not be." I babbled on, mostly to myself.

"He's not dead, but…" Edward began but Max cut in.

Her tone somber yet authoritative and it scared me a little bit. "Iggy got bitten. He's going through the transformation already."

"But…but…" I said brilliantly, my mouth failing me for once. I turned to Bella and Edward. "Can't one of you suck the venom out? Get him normal again like Alice did for Leah and Embry when they did the whole un-imprinting thing…..Please?"

"His super fast healing rate is working against him for once." Edward explained, reading into Max's mind to know about our immune systems. "It jump started the transformation and by the time the fight was over and we started checking the injured, the venom was already too far into his bloodstream."

"So…he's going to become one of you?" I asked with a sob and I heard Angel break down even more. Apparently, the wolf that I established as Seth wasn't doing so well either.

I glanced over at the two of them and winced. Seth's fur was covered in blood. Angel's hands and upper body were covered with the thick red liquid because she had her small arms wrapped around his massive body in a tearful hug.

"I'm afraid so, Nudge." Bella vampire-whispered into the trees. "In less than three days, Iggy will be a vampire."

And like that, my whole world faded and I slipped into unconsciousness...


	24. Imprint Magic

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bella's POV

I watched the scene unfold through blurred eyes. Even though vampires can't cry, we still get some of the minor symptoms that go along with it.

Nudge had been clinging to Iggy's side since we broke the news to her and eventually we left them. The two of them were still in the clearing, despite our protests that it wasn't safe with the remaining Volturi still in the area.

They were technically mostly human after all. (Iggy was in the middle of the transformation but still had blood coursing through his veins-just not enough to keep him human.)

Though Max had been just as upset about the news that Iggy was going to turn into a vampire in a few days, she and the rest of the Flock were sitting calmly in the living room. Nothing surprises me about them anymore.

Esme, Rosalie, Alice, and Nessie were playing with Bex, glad that our little girl was safe. Jacob and Emmett were watching a football game with Fang and Gasman while Max stood on the back porch, deep in thought.

Angel was trying to give Carlisle and Edward privacy while they operated on a badly wounded Seth, but she was failing miserably considering she kept coming up the stairs and standing outside the 'operating' room.

When she let out a whimper, I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Just go in there." I whispered loud enough for her to hear.

_I don't want to distract them. They need to get him safe for me._ She thought back to me in my mind. It still freaked me out the way she did that. _Sorry. _

"You won't be interrupting them. Seth probably will heal better with you by his side anyways." I commented, knowing how much imprints helped wolves.

_You sure? _She asked in my head, her thoughts a quite whisper compared to the rambunctious 'teenagers' watching the game downstairs.

I nodded and showed her a memory of a few years back, when Nessie was physically five but only a year and a half old. She had bitten him too hard (a habit she picked up when she became fascinated when Jake's skin would grow back) and she had reached his bone.

Edward had forbidden Renesme from seeing Jake for a few days as punishment. During those two days, Jacob's wound didn't heal as quickly as it usually did, despite Carlisle's careful doctoring techniques. By that time, her punishment was over so her and Jake had a tearful reunion, resulting in his normal fast recovery restarting itself.

Angel's eyes perked up and she stood straighter. _I could help my Seth? _She asked, staring at the door in concentration.

I nodded again, even though I knew she already had her answer by the look on her face. That was a 'imprint pull' smile.

The wolves and their imprints have a bond that goes both ways; contrary to popular belief. Those without imprints assume that they'll become solely devoted to their girl, but what they don't realize is that the girls have the same devotion towards their brother/protector/lover.

The two of us walked into Carlisle's study which also doubled as an emergency room whenever a wolf injured; which was far more often than I liked.

Seth was sprawled out on the table, his wolf legs dangling over the edge because he was incredibly huge. His left arm was twisted backwards, his shoulder was out of place, his right thigh (if you can call it that on a wolf) was practically torn in half, and his fur was drenched in blood.

Those were just the things that _I _could notice. I was suddenly glad that I hadn't taken Edward up on his offer to teach me medicine like he wanted. I would probably be scared out of my mind if I knew just what was going on with my 'baby brother'.

Angel, on the other hand, didn't show any fear. She simply pulled up a chair next to him and started whispering in Seth's furry ear. "You're gonna be okay, got it? I can't keep loosing people I love, you hear me?"

She started getting angry and Seth twitched with each word. "You have to get better. It's your job. Who's gonna protect me if you aren't here? Sure, I'll still have the Flock, but look how that helped Iggy. I'm not turning vamp just because you aren't around."

"I think it's working." Carlisle commented, too low for Angel to hear. He and Edward were monitoring Seth's vital signs.

Edward turned to Angel, his tone resembling that of when Nessie was younger. "I need you to get Seth to phase back. We've been trying for sometime, but he keeps pushing me out of his mind."

Angel nodded and kissed Seth's canine nose.

When Edward started chuckling, I glanced at him. "Of course, Seth. We don't want to expose her to that anymore than you do." He replied to Seth's thoughts and motioned to Carlisle.

The doctor retrieved a blanket from the back of the room and laid it across Seth's 'sensitive parts.' I couldn't help but laugh at the modesty. I mean, here he was bleeding to death, and the only thing he's worried about is scarring his ten-year-old's innocence. It would be different if Angel wasn't a mind reader and hadn't seen glimpses already.

Seth phased back with a little more coaxing from Angel. When he was finally in human form, he started yelling in pain. His arm was still twisted and I could see that his thigh was in fact bleeding out. A big chunk of it was missing.

"Was he..." I asked, glancing at the torn flesh.

"Demetri got him, yes." Edward replied, wrapping gauze around Seth's leg.

"We got there quick enough to suck the tiny bit of venom out so he should make a full recovery."Carlisle said as he set Seth's arm at the same time and the wolf let out another yell.

"I'm sorry, Sethy." Angel whispered, her grip on his hand tightening whenever he'd yell. "You need to be quiet, Bubba, okay?" She kissed his nose again, this time touching human skin instead of a muzzle.

Seth nodded and focused his eyes on her. "I'll do my best, Sissy, but it really hurts." He said in an almost whiney voice. It was hard to believe that he was twenty when I looked at his barely-fifteen baby face. He was the picture of innocence.

"I know you are." Angel complimented, playing the role of supportive imprint. "And you're gonna be just fine in a minute, so quit your squirming."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Seth said as he made a face, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tounge. Angel started cracking up laughing and even Carlisle and Edward had tiny grins.

I smiled, glad to see that Seth was getting back to his normal self and healing properly. At least one good thing came out of this day; despite all the Volturi deaths and Iggy's vampirization, we wouldn't lose any of our wolves today.


	25. Questions in Heaven

**AN: The ruler thing represents a time gap, but its not really specific. The whole chapter is over the course of two days (Iggy's tranformation)**

**ON WITH THE STORY!!!! :)**

Chapter Twenty-Five

Iggy's POV

Pain. All I felt was pain. Mind numbing, excruciating, seemingly never-ending pain.

* * *

I tried to move my hand but couldn't lift it; I couldn't even twitch it. I tried to move other parts of my body but I was immobilized, and it felt like my limbs were cut off from the world. My movements were restricted to the shallow breaths escaping from my lips; but even those were few and far between.

I felt someone by my side and voices, far away and sounding underwater; was I on a submarine again? It felt different this time though, less ear popping pressure and more chest tightening/burning alive feeling…hmm, so basically not on a submarine.

* * *

_What's wrong!?! _I thought to myself, trying to pry my eyes open but failing epically. Wait, why wasn't Angel replying, or even Edward? Could they not hear my thoughts? How is that possible; I'm not shielding my thoughts. Did I have brain damage? Is that why they couldn't hear me?

The last thing I remember was going head to head against a short, muscular Volturi vampire that kept trying to get around me and Gasman to get Nessie and Bex. Did he kill me?

Was I dead? Was this what it felt like to die? Oh crap, Nudge is going to kill me. How was I supposed to…her smile came to mind from one of the many times she'd led me to the stairwell (a perfectly white canvas so I could see).

I thought of my beautiful Nudge and my heart stopped…and didn't pick up again.

My mind went into overdrive. I was suddenly wishing that I had paid more attention in Biology. Common sense told me that my heart stopping was definitely a bad sign. I kept panicking, my mind on hyper drive when suddenly, my heartbeat came back.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

* * *

The voices were back, slowly getting louder and more distinguishable. I recognized it as female but that was as far as I got. Her voice sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. It'd be like taking a picture (if I wasn't blind, of course) of your cat but dropping it in a rain puddle. When you look at the picture now, instead of Mr. Mittens, you see a blurry black blob.

Suddenly, all I could think of was the blurry cat and I smiled in my head. Was I delirious? Had I gone insane? And who in the world is Mr. Mittens?

* * *

I fluttered my eyes open, the pain all over my body had been lessening over the past, I don't know, hour? And now I was slowly regaining the use of my normal body movements.

A dark skinned angel looked down at me, my head on her lap, her wings wrapped around us both, and her warm brown eyes staring into mine. I felt like it was worth it; the past however long of pain was worth it to see an angel like this up close.

I would really have to talk to God about the whole 'entering Heaven' thing. I'm sure most people wouldn't bother being good on Earth if they had to suffer through that.

"Am…am I in Heaven?" I asked, suddenly afraid that I had ended in the Bad Place instead. That would explain the pain and burning sensation all over my body.

"You can see me?" She asked, moving her hand in front of my face slowly as I followed it with my eyes. I nodded, my eyes meeting hers again, and I wondered why this was a big deal. The answer was on the tip of my tongue but I just couldn't form words with it to make anyone else understand.

Then the angel did the last thing I expected. She leant down and kissed me, full on the mouth. "Iggy, you pig, you scared me." She said with a laugh, trying to pull her face away from mine. I didn't let her though. I brought her face back to mine and enveloped her in another kiss, trying to force her lips apart so I could deepen the kiss.

"I wouldn't do that." A male voice said from behind. A Greek god in the flesh, his bronze hair was blowing in the breeze and his pale skin reflected diamonds in the sunlight.

He turned towards the angel. "He doesn't recognize us. I think the transformation messed with his memory…I'll have to go tell the others that he's awake."

He looked at her sternly and I wanted to punch him in the face for looking at her period. He could probably get his own angel; this one was mine. "Don't let him get too close to you…especially his teeth."

The angel nodded and the Greek god disappeared into the forest. Hmm, why was I in the woods if I was in Heaven…maybe this was my personal Heaven. Did that mean I still had my wings?

I scooted away from the angel and stretched my wing muscles. Without a second's notice, I snapped them open fully and leapt into the air. The angel followed me, more hesitantly than when I first arrived but that didn't matter to me. She was here, that's all that I cared about.

"Your…your skin." The angel breathed, touching my forearm.

I stared at her chocolate colored arm against my pale diamond skin and frowned. Why was I like the Greek god and not like her? Was it a male thing? I didn't understand.

The angel seemed to sense my confusion because she guided me back towards the forest. She passed over the spot we had originally been and I saw various pools of blood. Two main ones looked rather large and I hoped the people were okay. Heaven or not, this was giving me a crazy sense of de ja vu.

When the angel started to land, I followed absentmindedly. We were at a giant white house with glass walls. Could I finally meet God now? I prayed years ago in New York that He wouldn't think I was a freak and I silently prayed that again as I stepped through the backdoor.

I was greeted by the Greek god, his brothers and sisters, a toddler that looked just as mesmerizing, two bouncers, and four more angels...and they were all staring at me like I had a third eye.


	26. One of a Kind

Chapter Twenty-Six

Max's POV

Iggy stared at us like he didn't know who we were and Nudge had to nudge him to get him to speak. Even though the Cullen's had advised us not to get too close to our Flock brother until they were sure that he wasn't thirsty for our blood.

"Why are you all staring at me?" Iggy asked, eyeing Nudge in awe. He 'whispered' to her, "are they new here too?"

Nudge's expression changed, she caught my eye and I could see tears in her eyes. "He thinks he's dead. When he first woke up, he asked if he was in Heaven." She paused, glancing around the room. "Something amazing happened though, I think he got his sight back. I'm not sure if he even knows who he is though so that's not that big of a deal to him. And his skin sparkles a little bit and I can hear his heart faintly and doesn't he look so cute with his slightly more handsome face?"

I was too confused by her babbling to comprehend half of the stuff she said.

"Wait, what do you mean he has a heartbeat?" Bella asked, and all the vampires cocked their heads to the side listening. (that wasn't really necessary but I found it amusing)

"Its definitely still the same." Rosalie commented, then wrinkled her nose. "Though he doesn't smell appetizing anymore."

"But…how can he still have a heartbeat? And his wings still work? And he can see? And he sparkle? And--" Iggy cut Nudge off by giving her a look.

"Iggy, how are you feeling? Do you feel hungry? Thirsty?" Carlisle asked, jumping into doctor mode. The rest of the Cullens, most of the Flock, and all of the wolves took that as their cue to leave. Only Carlisle, Nudge, and I were left in the hallway with Iggy.

"I could go for a cheeseburger." Iggy joked, then gripped his throat. "But my throat is burning…." He admitted sheepishly, glancing at Nudge ashamed.

"Iggy, baby, don't you remember anything?" Nudge asked, for once keeping her chatter to a minimum. She glanced at me and mouthed 'he thinks we are angels.'

I sighed when he shook his head. "Maybe we could have Angel help refresh his memory." I commented and Iggy smiled at Nudge. Oh, brother.

Two hours later, after an intense 'memory reboot' session with the mind reader, Iggy was looking slightly pale. Which was strange considering he was now a vampire.

"You mean we honestly grew up in cages?" Iggy asked for the hundredth time. "And I'm now a vampire…or whatever?" He gestured to his chest, placing his marble hand over his heart.

"Yes." I replied a little sarcastically, my patience running out. "Congrats, Ig, you are officially the first Avian-Hybrid Vampire."

Nudge smacked my arm and I felt a little guilty. Iggy didn't mean to be a pain, he was just confused. I would be too if I lost my memory and had it forced in my head by a ten year old. Not to mention the fact that the whole story itself sounded ridicules.

"That's it." Carlisle vampire whispered, despite us all being able to hear him.

"What are you on to, Doc?" I asked, getting cranky from lack of food.

"We have been going about this all wrong." He said, looking at Iggy again. "We've been basing Iggy's transformation on a normal human's when he wasn't 100% human to begin with. That two percent bird must have had a greater affect than you guys thought."

"So, like, besides just the wings and our natural powers, there's still more to it." Nudge said, half confused.

"Its your blood." Carlisle said triumphantly. "It is quicker to move in your system, hence the fast transformation, but it also seems to have stopped the vampire venom from completely taking over his body like it did with the rest of us."

"But what does that mean for Iggy?" I asked, my protective instincts coming out.

"I'll have to get the blood results back, if the special needle we use for Renesme works that is, but I should be able to tell you just how much of a vampire he's become." Carlisle said, piercing Iggy's skin with a titanium needle. Iggy wasn't the only Flock member that winced.

A knock on the door revealed Edward. He stepped into the room and smiled. "While we run those tests, why don't you get some food, Iggy. What are you hungry for: food or blood."

Iggy looked between the four of us before he muttered, "blood." Nudge crinkled her nose in disgust but she hid it well.

"Okay. Do you have someone you'd prefer hunting with for the first time?" Edward asked, a smile on his lips as he read the answer in Iggy's mind.

"I want Nessie to if she's willing." Iggy said shyly. "She seems to be the most like me now…not quite human, not fully vamp." He smiled cockily. "Though I do have the added benefit of wings."

"That you do." Carlisle said with a laugh.

In that moment, I realized that our Flock would never be the same. Our little pyro was no longer one of us.


	27. Love Triangle

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Nessie's POV

When Edward asked me to take Iggy hunting, I was shocked. I hadn't really known Iggy that well before the whole kidnapping, having Bex, then the Volturi battle thing.

I actually wasn't that close to any of the Flock besides Nudge, but that was only because she shared a fascination with fashion like Alice and I did. Max and I had a special bond because we were held captive together, but she seemed to want to forget that ever happened. Not like I ever could.

Edward read my thoughts and explained. "Iggy thinks he's all alone in this, being a special, one of a kind creature. He thinks that you are the most like him now, since he still has a heartbeat.

"You don't have to go that long, you could even just show him the ropes and come back, just let him get a feel of hunting vamp. We'll have the blood results back in an hour, so see if you can keep him out that long. Its getting dark anyways, so make it quick. Alright Princess?"

"Sure thing, Daddy." I said, handing Bex off to my eagerly willing Aunts. They loved my little girl nearly as much as I did. Nudge and Angel were cooing at Bex too, all four of them in my bedroom with my mom. The wolves had been sent home, despite mine and Angel's protests.

Jacob didn't seem to mind leaving if it weren't for the fact that I wasn't with him. He was the only one who Bex didn't have wrapped around her finger but I knew that in time that would change. He already called her his daughter, but that might be just for my sake.

"Don't let her stay up late." I warned the Flock girls who were already prepping for bed.

My one year old looking daughter rolled her eyes in a mature expression. "I'm not a little kid, Mommy." She grumbled.

It was still weird having to adjust to her growth rates and immense vocabulary considering she was only three weeks old. I wonder if this was how my parents felt. Though I didn't grow as quickly, it still must have been difficult.

Once I was sure that Rose and Alice would put Bex to bed, I headed down the hall to find Iggy for our hunt. In the hallway, I ran into someone. Like literarily ran into them. My face made contact with their chest and I stumbled backwards. I would have fallen on my butt if two hands hadn't grabbed me before I fell.

"Oh, hey, Fang." I said, feeling the tingle in my throat by being this close to him. He was my singsong after all. No matter how much I hated to admit it, I would always crave a sip of his blood. "Have you seen Iggy?"

"Ask Max." He grunted, trying to move past me in the hallway. He seemed ticked about something but I really was supposed to be finding Iggy so I didn't stop to ask.

When Fang got to the end of the hall, he slipped into the room that he and Max had been sharing since they arrived, and returned to the hallway with a pillow in hand. Curiosity got the better of me and I stopped in the hallway and followed his movements with my eyes. He was headed back towards my direction.

He stopped in front of me and shoved the pillow in my arms. "Give this to Max when you see her." Fang said angrily, his usual cool composure long gone.

"What's wrong, Fang?" I asked, already knowing he wasn't going to answer me.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Iggy?" Fang seethed. "He seems to know her better than I do."

"I don't understand, Fang. Are you having a fight with Max?" I asked. They seemed to have a rock solid relationship like my parents; it was odd if they were at odds over something.

"I can FEEL her freaking emotions!" He said, not making any sense. "The love…I…I can't stay here and take it."

With those final words, he took off towards the front door. I watched in fascination as he leaped into the air, snapping out his beautiful black wings and disappearing into the night.

I rushed into Carlisle's study where I was hoping I'd find Iggy. Sure enough, there he was, looking a little pale, Max's hand smoothing away sweat off his forehead in what looked like an affectionate manner.

I coughed to reveal my presence, in case they had been having a moment, and both their heads snapped up to look at me. Iggy looked like he was about to get sick while Max looked a little embarrassed. Was this what had upset Fang?

"What's going on?" I asked, gesturing to Max's hand still on Iggy's cheek.

"Iggy got sick and everyone said that Carlisle and Esme went to the hospital to get the blood results." Max explained, raising her eyebrow at me. "Why do you have a pillow?"

"Fang told me to give it to you. He seems to be under the impression that you are in love with Iggy." I half mumbled the last part in case it was true. "I…I shouldn't have interrupted you guys."

"What???" Max looked startled. "Wait, why would you think…me and Iggy?…Fang….oh, god…he can FEEL my emotions…"

"What emotions?" I asked, eyeing Iggy who seemed to have passed this sickness and looked better just in the last two minutes. "Fang said something about not being able to stay here and FEEL the love." I prompted, hoping she'd fill in the blanks.

"He left?" Max asked, ignoring my obvious curiosity. "Where'd he go? Which direction?"

"Um…up?" I said lamely. I really had no idea where he went, just that he flew there.

"Iggy, you're in charge of the Flock, I'll be back when I find him." She said and rushed out the study door. What was with these people and charging off?

"Does that happen a lot?" I asked Iggy, referring to the eldest Flock members taking off all the time.

He merely shrugged and his eyes locked on mine. It was a little less creepy now that he could see completely (a benefit of the transformation I guess-perfecting the worst parts of you), but it still set me on edge.

"You ready for our hunt?" I asked, leading him towards the backdoor. He nodded. What was he mute now? Man, this was frustrating. I remembered when he'd spoken earlier, his voice had been a little deeper and more vampire sounding. I guess he just wasn't used to not hearing his voice when he talked.

I took off running towards the forest and Iggy followed behind me at a slightly slower pace. "You can use your wings if it'll make you more comfortable." I suggested and he leapt into the air, barely missing a branch.

"Okay, now just let your instincts take over." I advised. Then added, when I thought he looked worried, "I'll be here to keep you from doing anything you shouldn't."

"I promise, I won't let you eat anyone…except maybe Bambi if you can find him." I joked and soon we were off again.


	28. Excuses & Explainations

Twenty-Eight

Max's POV

I flew off in the direction Nessie pointed me (lot of help that did *rolls eyes*) and scanned the airway. I needed to explain myself before he did something stupid.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Maaaxxx." I heard Iggy calling from the makeshift hospital room. I got up from my seat on the couch and gave Fang a nod in passing. Angel and Nudge were probably playing with Bex, while I knew that Gasman had already gone to bed, not feeling well. _

_When I entered the room, I wrinkled my nose. The room smelled horrible. I smelled the puke before I saw it, but that didn't stop the gag reaction I had. _

"_I…I don't feel good." He complained, covering his mouth with his hand. His no longer blind eyes met mine and I sighed. Back to Mommy Max. _

_It had been forever since any of the Flock had gotten sick, that I found it odd that two of my boys were sick at the same time, especially since I hadn't felt good yesterday. _

"_It's okay, Igs." I shushed him. "I'm gonna get you some stuff and then you'll feel better. You want me to get Nudge or Carlisle?" _

_Iggy panicked. "No, no, don't get Nudgie. I don't want her to see me like this." He moaned. "Not when I'm already so messed up." He said, referring to his vampire-ness. I felt bad for my pyro; suddenly my life didn't look half bad._

_I went to the bathroom, grabbed a few washrags that I ran under cool water, and tried to find some sort of bucket. I had a feeling Iggy would need it. I finally found one under the sink and emptied the medicines out of it, leaving the bottles in the counter. _

_I was half tempted to grab the Aspirin but remembered what Nessie said about normal medications and how they would only work for a few minutes and then the pain would be back again._

_I spotted Alice in the hallway and asked if she'd seen Carlisle but she said that he and Esme were at the hospital getting the blood results. I thanked her anyway, feeling weird when the words passed my lips. Being around people with old fashioned manners had rubbed off and I cursed the Cullens under my breath teasingly. _

_I washed Iggy's face with the washrag and put the barf bucket next to him on the floor for future use. I turned to leave but he caught my wrist. _

"_Please, Max, I'm scared." Iggy said uncharacteristically. None of the Flock ever showed weakness, that was something Jeb had taught us long ago. Now, my winged vampire brother was practically on the verge of tears. _

"_It's okay. I'm here." I said, trying to reassure him. He closed his eyes contently and I was reminded of a time not long ago when Fang had been badly injured and he made the same face. _

_My heart tore as I thought of Ari nearly killing my best friend. So much had changed since that day on the beach. Fang was now my boyfriend that I loved, um, I mean liked. Oh, who am I kidding, I love that boy. _

_I smiled as I said it in my head. I love Fang. I am in love with Fang. I am head over heals in love with my best friend. Suddenly, I couldn't contain my thoughts and I whispered happily, "I love you."_

_Iggy stared at me strangely and I shrugged him off. His eyes lit with recognition. "Ah, I see. You finally realized what I figured out three years ago in Colorado."_

"_I…I guess I did." I said, a smile still on my lips. I bent down and kissed Iggy on the forehead as he closed his eyes again. "Thank you for understanding, Igs. I don't think I'll be able to tell him the truth, but knowing that I'm not the only one who knows it helps."_

"_Anytime, Max." He replied, looking less sick than he had minutes ago._

_Iggy was still looking a little pale, so I used my hand to try and smooth away sweat off his forehead. I had done the same thing to Gasman not an hour ago and I smiled at the similarities. He was looking so much better. Both of them were. I guess I have a magic touch. _

_Someone coughed behind us and both our heads snapped up to look at the intruder. Nessie was standing there looking like she had interrupted a moment and my cheeks blushed at the insinuation. _

"_What's going on?" She asked, gesturing to my hand still on Iggy's cheek. _

"_Iggy got sick and everyone said that Carlisle and Esme went to the hospital to get the blood results." I explained, raising my eyebrow at her. Why did I feel defensive?_

_I noticed the pillow tucked under her arm and asked, "why do you have a pillow?"_

"_Fang told me to give it to you. He seems to be under the impression that you are in love with Iggy." Renesme mumbled, looking ashamed. She didn't think…_

_My suspicions were confirmed when she mumbled. "I…I shouldn't have interrupted you guys." _

"_What???" I asked, clearly startled. "Wait, why would you think…me and Iggy?" A thought occurred to me and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. "Fang….oh, god…he can FEEL my emotions…"_

_End Flashback_

* * *

I finally spotted Fang up ahead, his wings beating powerfully in the night and he blended in with the dark sky. If I hadn't of heard the flapping noise, I probably would have passed him up.

He tilted his head so he could see which Flock member was in the air with him and stubbornly turned face forward when he recognized me. Jerk.

"I know you know I'm here." I said, flying slightly faster to catch up with him. He sped up too. "Real mature Fang. Honestly, I don't know why you don't go back to kindergarten. I hear they have coloring books!" I said with fake enthusiasm.

"Just leave me alone, Max." He said angrily. "You're better off with out me. You have _Iggy_ to be your second in command now." He sneered Iggy's name and I nearly smacked him midair.

Instead, I shoved him to the side. His flying wobbled for a minute before he righted himself, angling his wings like the hawks did in Death Valley.

"I don't want Iggy." I said through clenched teeth, hoping he would just drop this. When he didn't reply, I punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. No one ignores Maximum Ride and gets away with it.

He responded automatically, grabbing my hand and twisting it backwards to where I was facing away from him. I kicked backwards, and smiled triumphantly when he released my arm and was covering the part that I had hit. Bull's-eye.

We fought in the air for a good ten minutes before Fang spoke up. "Just let me leave, Max. It'll be better for all of us."

"Where do you think you're going, Fang? Huh? Mr. I-promised-not-to-ever-split-the-Flock-again?" I knew it was low to bring it up when he was already upset but I couldn't loose him. "Or did you forget about that too?"

Fang huffed. I think I had caught him off guard for he veered downwards. I followed him angrily, landing beside him gracefully.

"I can't stay here with the two of you, Max." Fang said, finally not beating around the bush. "I won't do it. I can't stand knowing that you chose him over me."

"I didn't." I said, getting in his face, my anger still rolling off of me. "You don't know what you're talking about, Fang, so why don't you just shut up? Or better yet, instead of running off like a coward, why didn't you confront me?"

"Were you even going to let anyone know you'd gone, or were you hoping that Nessie would spread the news for you? Huh?" I said, jabbing my finger at his chest accusingly.

"I left a note on our bed for you." He mumbled and my anger doubled.

"A _note_? You left me a _note_?" I was seething. Here I finally realized that I loved the boy and he goes and does something stupid like trying to leave me.

"I couldn't face you knowing you didn't love me like I love you." He whispered, showing more emotions than he had in months. "I felt your emotions when you were in the room with Iggy. I heard what you said."

"I was thinking of you, you idiot!" I said, raising my voice again. How could he seriously not know still?

"That's sick you know." He said and I was confused. "I know you kissed him, I could hear it from the hallway, Max. Don't try to deny it."

"I kissed his _forehead_ because he was _sick_." I said slowly, as if I were talking to a little kid.

"You can't do this. You can't try to lie and get me to come back." He said stubbornly. "I love you Maximum Ride and I can't share you with him."

My heart soared and I forgot for a minute that I was mad at him. "I love you too, Fang." I said and his eyes met mine. "How could you ever think that it wasn't you?"

Suddenly, Fang's lips were crushing mine in a territorial-she's-mine-not-going-to-let-anyone-ever-look-at-her-again way and I reacted eagerly. The man I loved loves me back and no one can come between us again.

* * *

**AN: Did anyone catch the foreshadowing in the middle of the chapter? : )**


	29. Bex's Favorite

Twenty-Nine

Jacob's POV

When I walked into the house the next morning, it was quieter than usual, especially since we had six birdkid residents and a one year old looking three year old. Since it was thunder storming, rare for this early in the morning, the Cullens had gone to play baseball. Weirdos.

That just left the Flock, Seth, Nessie, and Bex in the main house.

I made my way up the stairs to find my imprint, passing half of the Flock in the living room. Fang had his arms wrapped possessively around Max's waist on the couch, glaring at Iggy on the loveseat next to Nudge.

Max simply rolled her eyes and went back to talking with the three of them as if her boyfriend wasn't acting like a maniac. From what I caught of their conversation, they were discussing Iggy's blood results.

I could hear giggles coming from Angel's room; a husky male one and a cute little girl one. I paused to listen, hoping for something I could blackmail Seth with later, and nearly peed my pants.

"More tea, Monsieur?" Angel said with a convincing French accent. "Oh, non. votre chapeau est de travers." **(AN: Oh, no. Your hat is crooked.)**

I could hear what sounded like someone's head shaking and Angel giggled. "Stop moving or I'll never get your hat back on."

"Where'd you learn French?" Seth asked, love and adoration clear in his voice.

"From people's minds. You'd be surprised what you pick up." Angel responded, then switched over to Spanish. "Jacob está escuchando." **(AN: Jacob is listening.)**

When I heard my name, I continued down the hallway. It would be just like the mind reader to rat me out; even if Seth couldn't understand her anyway.

I knocked on Ness's door and heard the shuffling of little feet. When the door swung open, I was greeted by the two year old version of my Ness.

"She grew again." I commented as I placed a kiss on my imprint's lips. "A whole year older over night." I paused and chuckled against her lips. "I guess the only solution is for me to never leave the two of you out of my sight."

Nessie sighed and pulled away from me but I kept my hands on her waist. "I don't know what I'm going to do with her. At least with me, we had a few references as to how I would turn out." She was careful not to say Nauhel's name but I could still tell that he was who she meant.

"We'll get through this, Ness. I promise." I said, kissing my fiancé again, this time with a little more passion. I almost forgot what we were talking about, getting caught up in the kiss, when Ness pulled away and voiced her concerns.

"I just hope she doesn't grow too quickly. Who knows how old she'll look tomorrow, or even in the next hour?" Nessie said against my lips.

"Just think, our flower girl could be our age when we get married." She teased and my heart skipped a beat.

"You still want to get married? T-to me?" I choked out and she gave me a 'duh' expression.

"Why wouldn't I?" She asked in disbelief.

I just shook my head and was about to explain when Bex started tugging on the bottom of my sweatpants. I picked the toddler up despite technically still being a newborn and she wiggled her way up to my neck.

"What is it, sweetie?" Nessie asked when Bex hid her face in the crook of my neck. I don't know why I was Bex's obvious favorite when the girls in this house gave her way more attention than I did.

"Tummy hurts." She complained, whining like the two year old she was. Even though she had an advanced vocabulary (or so Nessie tells me), I've only ever heard her talking like a toddler. I'm beginning to think that Ness is just exaggeratinglike every mother does.

"Oh, Bex, sweetie, it'll be okay." My Ness said soothingly, trying to pull the little girl from my arms. I opened my arms to make it easier but Bex wouldn't have it. She started crying and clinging on to my neck, her half vampire strength making it hard for even a werewolf like me to fight against.

"Jake, see if you can calm her down." She finally said, looking reluctantly at her daughter in my arms. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Nessie was jealous.

"Rebecca Sarah Cullen, you quit your whining this instant." I said sternly, then softened when she attempted to quiet her sobs. "Do you want Mommy to get you some medicine?" I asked, gently rubbing Bex's small back.

She shook her head, rubbing her nose against my chest muscles in the movement.

"Come on, it'll make you feel better." I coaxed but Bex continued to shake her head, her brown-gold hair hitting me in the arm from her motions.

"I don't know what's wrong with her." Nessie said softly, looking at me over the top of Bex's head. "She must have caught what the Flock have. Max, Gasman, and Iggy have all been sick in the last couple of days."

"She has been spending a lot of time with them." I commented, placing a kiss on top of Bex's hair. She looked up at me with Nessie's wide brown eyes and smiled at me.

"Do you want some medicine now, Bex?" Nessie asked again and the little girl stubbornly shook her head in response.

"Rebecca, you can't avoid it forever." I said teasingly. "We all have had to gulp down some of the nasty stuff so that we could feel better. I remember this one time when I was younger, my mom had to physically make me take it, but then I felt better."

Her ears perked up as I spoke and I wondered what had gotten into her. Nessie noticed this too and her eyes locked on to Bex's.

"Sweetie, do you want me to go get the medicine now?" She asked, eyeing her daughter as she shook her head again. I really thought she was ready for her medicine now…

My thoughts were interrupted and my breath caught in my throat when I heard Bex say, "I want Daddy to get it."


	30. Back to School

Chapter Thirty

Max's POV

Since the kidnapping, Volturi fight and Bex's birth, Jake, Nessie, Angel, and I hadn't attended school. The others had returned when Nessie and I were kidnapped. But for the four of us, that was almost two months without an education.

Even though I was still furious at Angel for skipping class because she was worried about all of us, I couldn't deny that I understood.

I personally didn't feel like going back to a place where we had to pretend to be normal when we were anything but.

Today, we were going to right that wrong and return to Forks High School.

Iggy was the only one who wouldn't be coming back with us. He had been getting used to the half-vampire diet. (His blood test revealed that he was half vampire, still 2% bird, and 48% human.)

"I'm going to miss you, Iggy." Nudge exclaimed for the hundredth time. "You have every class with me, or at least you did until you got vamp-ized, and then during the last three weeks none of us went because we were getting used to you being special and Bex was like crying and stuff. Though why we stayed is still a mystery to me. Max could have just let us go. I guess she was trying to prepare us in case we had to move."

"Nudge. Can it already." I said angrily, tired of her pointless chatter.

"Sorry, Max. I'm just nervous about being away from Iggy." Nudge said with a sigh.

"Its not like I'll be here alone." Iggy said, calming Nudge. "The Cullens will be here and so will Bex. I'll have plenty of people here to keep me company for eight hours."

The two of them kissed lightly on the lips and Iggy disappeared back inside the house. Nessie and Jacob each placed a kiss on top of Bex's hair and handed the 'two year old' to Bella's waiting arms.

Seth, Jacob, Angel, Nessie got in Jake's Rabbit while Fang, Gasman, Nudge, and I piled into Edward's old Volvo.

We pulled into the parking lot at a quarter to eight and all made our way to our classes. I spotted Layla Morris, the strange girl that could sense bonds like Jasper could sense emotions, on a bench by a younger looking girl.

Nudge ran off to find Angel and Nessie; Gazzy headed straight to Art. I made my way over to the two humans, dragging Fang with me. I hoped she remembered me since I had only gone one day before I got expelled and then didn't show up for two months.

She was wearing the same baggy jeans but with a different, slightly more slimming t-shirt with it. She had cut her long brown hair, though her bangs still hung in her face and covered up her blue eyes.

When she saw Fang and I approaching, she nudged the girl lightly in the ribs. The girl had bright green eyes, black hair, and tanned skin tone. If it weren't for the hair, I would assume that she grew up near a beach.

"Nick!" The black haired girl exclaimed when she saw Fang and I had to resist the urge to punch her in the face. Fang, FEELING my emotions, chuckled.

"Who's your friend?" The girl asked, eyeing me up and down. She smirked when she decided that I wasn't a threat to her and her lousy attempts to seduce my boyfriend.

"This is Madison Ride. But everyone calls her Max." Layla spoke up and I smiled. She had remembered. "She's the girl that made Brittney Brown go into a coma for two weeks." Layla explained with a smile.

"You're _the_ Max?" The other girl asked.

I puffed out my chest instinctively and nodded. "The one and only."

"So how do you know Nick?" The new girl asked, letting her eyes graze over Fang's muscles visible through his t-shirt. Thank you, Alice.

"They're a couple. Strong bond too, so I wouldn't get my hopes up, Jenny." Layla stated. "They're living with the Cullens out in the woods."

'Jenny' sighed and muttered under her breath so she thought we couldn't hear. "Not fair. I wish the Cullens would adopt _me_."

"Well, it was nice catching up, Layla. I'll see you in third." I said and pulled Fang in the direction of my first class. I didn't want to sit through Biology alone, but I knew that Fang had to eventually get to English class.

"So who was that other girl?" I asked when we stopped in front of Ms. Bennett's room. "You know, the one who had a huge crush on you."

"That's just Jenny Flapdoodle. She moved here a couple days ago from Florida." Fang said as he did an automatic three-sixty with his eyes. There was no one around so I don't know why he bothered.

Suddenly, I felt Fang's lips on mine and my eyes widened in shock. He was kissing me? In public? He knew how I felt about that…My thoughts shut down when Fang pulled me closer, placing his hands on my waist, and started deepening the kiss. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck.

We broke apart only when we heard someone clearing their throat rudely. We pulled away from each other, both breathing heavy, and stared at the man who interrupted our make-out session.

Crap. It was Troy Kilzer…the principal.

"Ah, if it isn't the school's newest trouble makers." He said, his gaze landing on me. "Good to see you again, Ms. Ride. I hope that your time home schooling has taught you to control your anger."

"Oh, yes sir, it sure has." I said sweetly and I could FEEL Fang laughing hysterically on the inside. On the outside, he remained calm.

"Just separate you two. Or else I'll have to call Carlisle and Esme and inform them that you were breaking Fork High School's no PDA rule." Kilzer said sternly and we nodded.

When he was out of sight, Fang started kissing down my neck, his teeth grazing over the skin there. I giggled in response. "What has gotten into you, F-Nick?" I asked, trying to make him pull away yet at the same time wishing he would never stop.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself." He replied, as if that answered my question. "Besides, I wouldn't want to disappoint our audience." He whispered against my skin.

I turned my head to see who he was talking about and my eyes locked on to John's. He was the jock that Fang beat up on our first day of school because he looked at me and flirted with me. I felt bad about that still so I smiled at John before I went back to kissing Fang.

The look of defeat in the human's eyes was unnerving.

* * *

**AN: Well, that's it folks. This story is coming to an end. But don't be too sad because I'm doing a third in the series called "Sparkle, Soar, Shift" (ha, get it 'cause its technically the same as Run, Fly, Phase...nevermind)**


End file.
